It Is What It's Not
by sk8ergirl24
Summary: Shane Gray would never willingly choose to be in a relationship. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be forced into one. So why was his time being wasted with some wannabe singer? Because he couldn't ignore the undeniable feelings he felt for her. Shane/Mitchie
1. Prologue

Haha yes, why am I starting a new story when I should be working on _Got Me Going Crazy_? Because this idea has been stuck in my head for weeks, and I finally got around to start it on my computer. This is just the prologue, so it's kind of short.

This story _will_ be rated **M**. But only because of some strong language and several sexual references.

Well, I hope you like it, and don't forget to review!

* * *

Shane Gray didn't date. He refused to be in anything that could describe, or form the word 'relationship.' He steered clear of the word commitment. Especially if it was in the same sentence as 'girl.' He had meaningless flings that he wouldn't remember after a week would pass. Because that was how Shane Gray was. He didn't care, all he cared about was fulfilling his needs.

Shane Gray would never willingly choose to be in a relationship. And he sure as hell wouldn't be_ forced _into one.

Which is exactly what his manager was trying to do at that very moment.

Shane was sitting in a chair, across from Nigel's desk. He was fuming. Not even trying to hide his utter displeasure.

"Why the fuck do I need to be set up with some random chick and be forced into a damned relationship?!" He winced sharply as the word fumbled from his mouth involuntarily. But his scowl that had formed on his face the second Nigel started talking deepened considerably.

"Look, Shane…" Nigel spoke calmly, expecting nothing less from Shane Gray. "you don't have to have a relationship with her, you just to have to pretend like you do. It's just for publicity. You need some good PR for once."

Shane scoffed, no one was ever gonna let him forget about that.

"So I walked off a music video set, big fucking deal."

Nigel was starting to get fed up. "And you stormed off stage, and you flipped off the paparazzi, and you cussed out Regis and Kelly! Something needs to be said in the tabloids about you that doesn't cost the label millions of dollars!"

Shane's glared on his manager hardened.

"Look—"

"No! You look, Shane. If you cost the label anymore money, and I mean even a dime, Connect 3 will be dropped, and I can assure you will not be picked back up again."

Shane frowned. Nate and Jason would kill him if that happened and it was his fault.

"Okay, look," Nigel started after Shane didn't reply. "Her name is Mitchie Torres. She's a brand new artist whose songs are doing really well on the charts, and she can use the publicity as well. And I'm warning you, be nice to her. She's not as crabby as you are."

Shane raised his eyebrows and scowled even deeper. So this girl was a 'nice girl.' Great. Now he was stuck with someone who he would absolutely despise. He hated nice people. People who did things for _fun_. And helped people, and a bunch of other stuff that Shane hated.

But on the bright side, or as bright as a dark situation like the one he was stuck in could be, at least this girl would be completely infatuated with him.

After all, who could resist _the_ Shane Gray?

He smirked to himself. He could think of plenty of ways that could help the extremely terrible situation he found himself in.

After all, who could resist being _seduced_ by Shane Gray?

"Fine, I'll do it. Whatever. Just make sure she doesn't bitch about shit." The last thing he needed was for a girl to be complaining and making him handle all her shit.

Nigel sighed and warily rubbed his hands over his eyes. "Language, Shane." He warned, to no avail, as Shane stood from his chair and headed for the door.

"Fuck off." And with that, Shane placed his sunglasses over his eyes and stepped out of the office, his signature smirk still plastered all over his face.

After heading out the door, he walked down the familiar path to the hotel where he and the other members of Connect 3 were staying.

He had managed to get himself to slightly look forward to what his manager had in store for him. Though he didn't know who the hell Mitchie Torres was, in fact he wasn't really aware of any singers but himself, but before he even met her, he could tell this experience would be interesting. Though he was currently only thinking about the sex, but what else was there to think about?

Shane Gray didn't do relationships.


	2. Chapter 1

"Dude, _you're _being _forced_ to date a girl you don't even know?!"

Never would Nate Johnson believe that Shane Gray would willingly be set up for a publicity relationship. Nate knew from being Shane's best friend that Shane cringed at the mere word, whether it be fake or not. But now, Nate sat in their hotel room, literally laughing his ass off at the news that Shane would indeed be in a publicity relationship.

Shane scowled deeply at his best friend and bandmate.

Shane and the rest of Connect 3 were sitting in their suite at the hotel, having gotten the day off for once, and not having to worry about some concert or signing or anything else for one night.

"It was either that or get dropped." Shane snarled.

Nate's laughter stopped immediately, and his expression became serious at Shane's words. Well that was one hell of an ultimatum.

"Seriously? He threatened to drop us if you didn't do the relationship?" Shane nodded stiffly, after grimacing at the word.

"Nigel said I needed some good PR for once." Shane grumbled moodily.

"Well, he's right." Shane's other best friend and bandmate, Jason Alexander, spoke up. "You're not exactly the happiest camper in the world."

Shane just glared at him in response.

"See what I mean?" Jason grinned while grabbing his Dr. Pepper he had sitting in front of him.

"It's not like I _want_ to do this. If anything, I'm just in it for the sex. "

Jason managed to choke on his Dr. Pepper mid-sip. Nate was just gaping at the words that had just fallen from Shane's unregretful mouth.

"What?" Shane demanded after he noticed the shocked looks he was getting.

"What makes you think this girl would _want_ to have sex with you?" Nate asked, caught off guard by his friends bluntness.

Shane scoffed and smirked cockily, and looked at Nate as if it were obvious.

"Because I'm Shane Gray." He scoffed again and rolled his eyes. Nate just frowned as shook his head at Shane's giant ego.

"Who is this girl anyway?" Nate mumbled, still disappointed at how much Shane's ego had grown from the second they got famous.

"Some chick named…Mitchie Torres or something."

Once again, Jason choked on his drink and Nate's eyes widened.

"You get to date _Mitchie Torres_?!" Jason shouted desperately, a pout forming on his face at the mere thought of Shane dating one of Jason's favorite singers.

"Yeah, so?" Shane questioned, slightly confused at why Jason would care so much.

"Dude, that's awesome. _She's _awesome! Her voice is _awesome!_ _She's completely awesome!_"

"Jason, please find another word!" Nate shouted.

Shane scowled. "Jase, what the hell are you talking about?" Though, he'd probably regret asking.

But thankfully before Jason could respond, Nate cut in.

"Mitchie Torres is the next big thing, man. Her first single is doing outrageously well on the charts. So far, all of her concerts have sold out in minutes.

Shane frowned. If she was so damn big, how come he had never heard of her then? He shrugged, not really caring either way.

"Whatever, I don't give a shit. As long as she just doesn't get in my way." Shane grumbled.

Nate frowned deeply. Why did he hang out with Shane again? Oh yeah, because he knew the real Shane was in there somewhere. Just buried deep down. He and Shane had been like brothers once, they used to do everything together. They used to stay up all night and just write songs because they liked to. But then the band got discovered, and the more attention Shane got, the more he yearned for it. And it turned him into the egotistical jackass he was today.

"I don't even know when I'm gonna meet her anyway."

Nate and Jason shared a look.

"Uh, Shane, we've already met her before. Don't you remember?"

Shane sighed, fed up with talking about this chick. But just so it would end faster, he shook his head at Nate.

"Her mom catered a benefit concert we played nearly a year ago."

"Like I'd even try to remember some lame benefit concert, let alone the losers I met."

Nate sighed, annoyed with Shane. "Well you should, it was right before she got signed, Nigel introduced her to us."

Shane scoffed. "Look Nate, I really don't care, so just shut up already, will ya?"

Nate glared slightly at him, and decided against snapping. It would just lead to a stupid and unnecessary argument.

Instead, he took a few deep breathes before going to answer the phone as it rang.

Shane on the other hand just blocked out all the other noises that were around him and picked up a magazine which of course he was on the cover of, and smirked, ignoring the title which read '_Shane Gray Costs Label Thousands of Dollars.' _Instead, he focused on how good of a picture it was of him. Not that he ever had bad pictures or anything.

"Shane!" Nate called after hanging up the phone that he had been talking into.

"What?!" he snapped, pissed that he was interrupted. Nate just responded with a glare.

"That was Nigel. He said he was on his way with Mitchie. So get ready." Nate snapped, his demeanor quickly turning cranky after just a few minutes with Shane and his temper.

Shane just scowled. He didn't really want to meet her. Especially if Nate was right about her not wanting to have sex with him. That was his silver lining. Not that he was worried or anything, every girl lusted after him anyways, why should this Mitchie Torres be any different?

Plastering his signature smirk onto his face once more, he ran his hand through his already disheveled hair, he made sure to make himself look sexier than he usually did, which wasn't an easy thing to do if you asked him.

It took about 20 minute before Nigel knocked on their door. And when it was heard, Shane stood from the chair that he was slumped in, and instead leaned against the arm of it, crossing his arms over his chest as Nate went to answer the door.

Jason stood not far behind Nate, practically bouncing on his toes from excitement. Nate opened the door only to reveal Nigel, and the girl that Shane wasn't prepared for.

He expected some sort of trampy, fake bleach blonde girl, who got lucky with her looks and nasally, whining voice and wore pink and glittery, barely there clothing.

He never expected Mitchie Torres.

She had long, straight brown hair, slightly sun streaked, soft brown eyes that shone with hesitance and nervousness. Her skin was perfectly tan, but in the natural way, not like she had just stepped out of a tanning bed. And she wore a simple blue t-shirt, and light faded jeans with a pair of Converse covering he feet.

To anyone else, there was nothing extraordinary about her.

But Shane was left breathless as he watched her fidget nervously. And that damn near pissed him off.

"Shane…" Nigel started, plastering a big smile on his face. "Meet Mitchie Torres. Mitchie, meet Shane Gray."

Neither of them said a word. Instead, Shane started at her intently, while she avoided his gaze at all costs and bit her lip.

He smirked, feeling an overwhelming desire to do that for her.

Nigel cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well, you guys catch up, get to know each other, I'll just be on my way." He said and slid out of the suite.

Mitchie just stood there, blushing slightly as did everything in her power to look anywhere but the three boys.

Jason was the first one to break the awkward silence.

"Hi Mitchie!" He shouted gleefully. "I'm Jason, I'm a _huge _fan!"

Her head shot up at his words, and she looked as if no one had ever said those words to her before. Shane just rolled his eyes at her 'modesty.'

"Well, I'd say someone's a little..._modest._"

Shane's smirk broadened as he scoffed and shook his head. Please, she was obviously rather popular if she was being set up with _the_ Shane Gray_._

"It's more than I can say for you." She mumbled, glaring slightly at Shane.

Shane's smirk turned into a scowl. He thought she was a 'nice girl.' Nice girls don't insult the guys they they're being set up with. "Excuse me?"

She blushed a little more. "Nothing. S-Sorry." She stuttered, avoiding eye contact once again.

Shane scoffed and started her down. Someone had a big mouth. And Shane didn't like people who had big mouths. And now he was going to be stuck with this girl for God knows how long. That put him in a seriously bad mood. His silver lining instantly disappearing. Especially after noticing she had yet to be lusting after him, or even drooling over him. In fact, she didn't seem like the kind of girl who would lust after a guy.

Well, if that was the case, Shane didn't need to be wasting his time with her.

He glared dangerously after he noticed her talking shyly to Nate and Jason, the blush still tinting her cheeks. She was supposed to be talking to him! _He_ was the one she was set up with. Not that he cared, he didn't want to get to know her or any of that shit. He already hated her for the mere fact that she didn't seem to care for him in any way.

He shook his head, he wasn't gonna waste his time. He needed to get laid, and that was obviously not going to happen with shy, and more than likely _innocent_, Mitchie Torres. He knew exactly where to go to fulfill his need, and he wasn't going to waste anymore of his time with these three.

"I'm going out. Be back whenever."

He ignored all the protests that Nate was calling out as he stalked out of the suite.

Nate glared fiercely at Shane was he watched him stalk out the doorway. Nate knew the look that Shane had on his face. He knew that Shane was about to go to some girl's place and not come back until the morning. He was _supposed_ to be getting acquainted with Mitchie, not off fucking another girl for the hell of it.

Nate sighed and glanced down at Mitchie, who was biting her lip nervously.

"You'll have to ignore him, he's always like that."

She shrugged. "I figured. I didn't want to spend too much time with him anyways.

Nate's eyebrows scrunched together. "Why not?

She scoffed. "Because I met him last year. And he's one of the biggest jerks I've ever met. I figured he hadn't changed, especially after Connect 3 got even bigger."

Nate nodded in understanding, and took note of the slight flash of disappointment that was evident in her eyes for a split second. He was aware that she had been a fan before she met them. It must've sucked to like someone so much and then meet them, only for them to be the biggest jackass in the world. Shane did that to a lot of people, and he didn't even care that he did.

"Hey, guys!" Jason suddenly exclaimed, breaking the slightly tense silence. "Why don't we go out to eat, I'm _starving_!" He complained, dropping the toy dinosaur that he been playing with during Nate and Mitchie's exchange.

Nate shrugged and looked at Mitchie questioningly for her answer.

She shrugged in response. "Sure, it's fine with me."

"Sweet! We'll go to that cool place that lets me color!" He shout excitedly before hopping up out of his chair to grab his jacket.

Nate rolled his eyes before looking at Mitchie, noting her short sleeved t-shirt.

"It's gonna be kind of cold out tonight, you want a jacket?"

She blushed a little more, but shook her head. But Nate merely ignored her and already to started to head for the coat closet.

"No, I'll be fine-" But before she could continue protesting, she felt a jacket drape over her shoulders, and blushed a deeper shade of red when she realized it was a jacket that she had seen Nate in countless time in tabloids and even photoshoots.

"Thanks." She mumbled, slightly embarrassed as she watched him slide on a faded black leather jacket. Jason came back a second later, clad in a black denim jacket.

"Let's go, guys!" He shouted loudly, practically dragging Nate and Mitchie out the front door of the suite.

Upon entering the lobby, Nate noticed the few camera flashes coming from out front. He sighed, not pleased with the appearance of paparazzi.

"They must've stuck around after they saw Shane leave." He shook his head. At least Nigel's plan would start panning out for the publicity stunt he had thrown Shane and Mitchie into.

They walked hesitantly out the front door, and as soon as all three of them were seen, the questions started flying.

All of which were bluntly ignored as Nate, Jason, and Mitchie tried to push through them towards Jason's car. They managed to reach his silver Nissan Xterra, with no help from the paparazzi whatsoever. Once that were able to get of the reach of paparazzi and their nosey questions, Jason started his car and headed out of the hotel parking lot.

The restaurant they had in mind was fairly secluded, so they knew they wouldn't have to deal with anymore cameras, or any interruptions. When they pulled up, there was thankfully hardly anyone there. It wasn't a fancy restaurant, it was an old fashioned American diner. Very subtle, and very low key.

As soon as they were in the building, they instantly found a booth.

"This place is awesome." Mitchie exclaimed. "How'd you find it in LA?" She asked curiously, gazing around the calm little diner.

"We played a show down the street at this small venue before we got signed, and afterwards we went walking and found this place."

"They have the _best_ chocolate milkshakes _ever_!" Jason said excitedly, making Mitchie giggle.

"So you guys come her often?"

Nate shrugged softly, giving her a half hearted smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Jase and I do. Shane prefers fancy, where everyone waits on him hand and foot."

Mitchie frowned at that. Why did Shane have to be like that? And why was he the only member of Connect 3 who was like that? She didn't ask, not really wanting to know anyways. Whatever was his problem was his problem, and she didn't want to have to deal with him. Even though she was basically stuck with him anyways.

Shaking her head, she tossed away all thoughts of Shane Gray and focused on getting to know the two sweet boys in front of her.

About three hours later Nate, Jason, and Mitchie walked out of the restaurant, laughing at something Jason had said about birdhouses.

Mitchie never expected to like Nate and Jason so much. They were so nice, and such gentlemen, it was kind of weird to even think they associated with Shane. She really got to know them in three hours they were there, and after all she even forgot that they were two thirds of the biggest band in America.

"So, Mitch, you wanna come back to the hotel and hang out? We can watch movies!" Jason pleaded, a hopeful look in his eyes.

Mitchie just laughed and nodded her head. "I would love to."

The boys just smiled at her before they headed back to Jason's car. They talked the entire ride back to the hotel.

Mitchie thought to herself, as Nate put in a DVD into the player, that maybe this whole experience wouldn't be so bad, well despite having to spend some of her time with Shane. But as long as Nate and Jason were nearby, maybe the whole thing wouldn't be too terrible.

Little did she know, that it would turn out completely different than what she ever imagined.


	3. Chapter 2

So I know I need to update GMGC, but I'm having a bit of writers block on that story, but there will probably be only 2 chapters left for that story, so while I try to get over my writers block, I wrote this, so hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review, because I love reading what you have to say!

Disclaimer: If I owned anything related to Camp Rock, or the Jonas Brothers, etc. I more than likely wouldn't be writing on FanFiction.

Rated M for many sexual references and language. You've been warned.

* * *

That next morning, Shane stumbled out of the bed that he had rolled around in the previous night, leaving the naked girl behind as he usually did. He tiredly, and moodily stumbled into his clothes as quietly and as quickly as possible, not wanting to deal with the girl waking up, he didn't want to deal with her, _especially_ when she was awake.

As soon as he was fully clothed, he swiftly left the room, not looking back. He grabbed the beanie and sunglasses he had brought with him and shoved them on his head as a disguise. It was fairly early in the morning, which was unusual for him to even be up before noon, but he wouldn't dare risk the girl, whose name he didn't even recall, wanting to to…_cuddle_ with him. He shuddered in disgust at the mere thought.

He sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his designers jeans as he walked out of the apartment building and down the sidewalk that lead back to his hotel.

After several minutes, he reached the Hilton, naturally, he wouldn't dare settle for anything less. He strutted farther into the fancy building towards the elevators. The 'ding' of the bell interrupting that silence that had settled upon the lobby.

When he reached his floor, and then the room, he opened the door and was shocked at what he found.

Lying across the living room were tons of snack wrappers, empty drinks, DVD boxes and Jason, using a bag of marshmallows as a pillow. And what shocked him the most, Nate practically laying on top of Mitchie. His head was resting on her back, as she was laying face down, and his right arm was draped across her legs.

Shane scowled as he stalked further into the suite.

He glanced up at the giant television which was playing the menu of a DVD that he didn't care about before scowling down at Nate and not so gently kicked Nate's leg, making the curly haired rockstar shoot up and look around frantically, still slightly disoriented from sleep.

"Shane! What the hell?!" He whispered harshly, not wanting to rudely wake anyone else.

"Me? What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded harshly, not bothering to be quiet.

"What do you care?"

"Mitchie is supposed to be hanging out with me!" Not that Shane cared, but she should _want _to be hanging out with him. Not Nate or Jason.

Nate narrowed his eyes at Shane and scoffed. "Oh please, you're the one who left before you even said a word to her. Who'd you fuck this time, Shane?" Shane glared, and fought off the urge to hit Nate.

"You know what, Nate. Fuck you. I don't even give a shit."

"Well, you should start giving a shit. Because Nigel told me that the label was going to be interested in hearing about what's going to be happening between you and Mitchie. And if they know that you're not making an effort to try and get good PR, then Connect 3 is screwed."

Shane scowled deeply. Why the fuck did the stupid label want a play by play? So what, Shane would walk around with her in public a couple of times, and then ignore her for the rest. That was the fucking deal. He breathed out shakily, his body easily filling with rage. But before he could act on his anger, Nigel came sauntering through the doorway.

"Morning, boys. Shane, how'd the bonding go?"

"It didn't go." Nate spoke up before Shane could lie. Because it was such a Shane move. "He was off screwing another girl while Mitchie hung out with me and Jason." Nate's tone was bitter, still pissed off at Shane, and it gave him satisfaction as he watched Nigel slowly become very irritated.

"Shane, I really don't want to have to get the execs and tell them that." He warned, very seriously, not that Shane cared any. "They're giving you a chance here Shane, and if you won't even make an effort they can drop you boys right now. I suggest you start putting in some effort, Shane. I want a better report when I come back tonight."

He warned once again, before leaving the suite.

Shane sharpened his glare as he faced Nate. "What the fuck did you rat me out for?!"

He demanded, and Nate just scowled at him in response. "I am not gonna let you screw this up, Shane. And I am not just gonna let you do nothing! I'm not gonna help you anymore. I refuse to let Connect 3 go down the drain because of your fucking bad attitude!"

"Wha's goin' on?" Asked Jason, whose voice was slurred with sleep. Shane and Nate's arguing had evidently woken Jason and Mitchie up.

"Jase, let's go get some breakfast. Shane and Mitchie need to at least get acquainted. If she says you left, I'll call the execs myself." Nate threatened as he had to practically drag a half-asleep Jason out of the suite.

Mitchie had rolled over onto her back as she still lay sprawled out across the floor. She knew she'd have to spend _some _time with Shane. She just wished it never would've had to happen. Shane felt the exact same way. He didn't want to be stuck with some goody two-shoes. Let alone have to actually talk to her. He didn't talk to girls. He slept with them. And he sure as hell wasn't going to get anything from Mitchie.

He was getting fed up with the silence though. If he had to stay in the damned room he didn't just want to be standing there.

"Do you speak?" He demanded rudely. Though his tone didn't seem to affect her, she expected that from him.

"Maybe. Do you ever stop being an ass?" She still wasn't looking at him, but that didn't stop the angry scowl from crossing his face.

"Okay, you _cannot_ talk to me like that! I'm _Shane Gray_ God's sake!" She merely rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well, I'm Mitchie Torres, a _person_, and you talk to me like that! How do you expect me to talk to you? Do you expect me to bow down to you and drool all over you? If you answer yes to that, _I'll_ leave." She threatened as she finally turned her head towards him and glared at him. He willingly glared back. "And besides, _you_ talk to people in worst ways, I'm surprised you haven't gotten shot yet."

He scoffed and laughed darkly. "Please, no one would shoot me I'm—"

"Shane Gray? Yeah, I know, you only say that every five seconds, princess." His face was starting to turn red as he listened to the insults that flowed from her mouth easily.

"Look, I'm stuck with you for God knows how long. Can't we just make this easier on ourselves?" He snarled, still rather pissed off at her. But he might as well try to convince her of his earlier plan. Besides, she had yet to say 'no' to sex. To his face anyway. And besides, he could be pretty convincing. Even as she glared fiercely at him.

She knew what he had in mind. She wasn't stupid. Or as desperate as Shane Gray seemed to be. "I am not having sex with you!" Now she stood up and walked towards him so her glare could have somewhat of a better effect. But this was Shane Gray, nothing effected him.

She was disgusted at the mere thought. Her and Shane had two completely different outlooks when it came to sex.

Shane scowled, he never got shot down, especially if it was for meaningless sex. Though as pissed as he was, he couldn't help but to find Mitchie Torres incredibly hot when she was pissed. Her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of an angry red, and her normally soft brown eyes were hard with aggravation. Her body stance was defensive, her hands curled up into balls as if she wanted to punch him.

Which she did want to.

Shane smirked and stalked closer to her, until their faces were mere inches apart. Nothing about her appearance changed as he did that action. But he would break her. He knew he could. He breathed out deeply, knowing that his warm breath must've had some effect on her as it smoldered the skin of her face. But she still didn't ease up.

"Are you sure about that?" He smirked as he breathed out the sentence, his hands instantly going to find her hips. He faltered slightly when he felt the shocking feelings that coursed threw him the second his hands touched her. But he tried to ignore them, and played them off as sexual tension. Though she made no move to leave his embrace as he pulled her hips closer to his.

"You know you can't resist me." He whispered seductively, his lips inching closer and closer to her face. "No one can resist Shane Gray." His eyes were now boring into hers, which were still defensive, but held a different emotion that Shane had yet to see before. Her body was rigid as his hands lowered to the back of her thighs and gripped firmly. She didn't move, and Shane figured this might be a little tougher than he thought. He could tease her and seduce her enough for her to give in. He was sure of that. Even if his self control was running low. The need and desire that he was feeling for her coursed through him at an exhilarating pace, which was pissing him off, because he made girls feel that way, girls didn't make _him_ feel that way, and he could only wonder how she was feeling.

"Come on, Mitch. Just make this whole thing a little easier for the both of us." He was trying to tempt her, but she still wasn't giving into him, and he was starting to get aggravated. He hadn't even kissed her yet, and yet the need he felt for her was nearly unbearable.

Finally, he felt her loosen up, and a broad smirk spread across his features, and he was ready to gloat at his victory. Though he wasn't surprised, he knew he could get to her, she was just stubborn.

At least that's what he was thinking until he felt her fist ram roughly into his stomach. The shock and force behind her punch sent him back a few steps. He looked at her, eyes widened as she glared at him, a smirk now present across her lips.

"Unlike you, Shane. I don't look for the easy way out." Shane just gaped at her as she stalked past him and into the kitchen.

Shane scowled, angrier than ever now. She was so damn impossible. Why did he even try? She wasn't worth it. He would've preferred someone with more experience than innocent, and stubborn Mitchie Torres. Scowling to himself as she ordered room service, he shook his head and plopped down onto the couch into the living room and turned the TV on. He'd just ignore her. He didn't need her. Though he would probably need a cold shower.

No one had affected him the way Mitchie Torres just had. Even if all she was doing was standing there. Touching her was like nothing he had ever felt before. And all it made him want to do was touch her even more, in ways that she wouldn't even let him.

It wasn't fair, they both might as well have gotten something out of this pointless 'publicity relationship.' But now, she had to go and hate his guts as much as he hated hers.

He shouldn't be caring so much about it anyways. There were plenty of other girls who would be more than willing to get with Shane. Mitchie wasn't his only option. He didn't know why he had tried so hard, it was pointless because Mitchie was just being a stubborn bitch.

But now all he wanted to do was get out of that apartment. Nate and Jason had locked themselves in their room as soon as they had gotten something to eat to give Shane and Mitchie some 'bonding time'. Stupid Nate. He had to go and suck up to the stupid record execs by actually following the damn rules. Shane knew the execs had to be bluffing.

Because as much as Shane cost them a lot of money, he brought in a hell of a lot more. Despite his 'attitude' millions of fans still adored him and wasted all their money on tickets and Connect 3 merchandise. Shane knew that the second the band got dropped, the label would lose half their income.

Shane shook his head, trying to focus on whatever was playing on the television. But his mind kept drifting back to the girl who was currently taking a breakfast plate, courtesy of room service.

Shane Gray may hate Mitchie Torres. But he couldn't deny the fact that he was definitely sexually attracted to Mitchie Torres.

That was all it was. That had to be all it was.

* * *

The next update I'll do will be for _Got Me Going Crazy_, and I'll probably finish that up before working on the next chapter for this.

Reviews are loved!


	4. Chapter 3

Mitchie couldn't believe Shane Gray. How arrogant, self absorbed, and completely egotistical he was, was absolutely disgusting. The only thing that was on that jerk's mind was sex, sex, and more sex and it was absolutely repulsive. What made it worse, were the effects that his fingers had on her body. She shouldn't have wanted to actually go through with Shane's thoughts, which would've absolutely disgusted her even more than she thought possible.

Mitchie was never one to really dislike people in the least bit, but she couldn't help but to completely be furious with Shane Gray. She knew she would dislike him, but this was absolutely ridiculous. The hatred she felt towards him was odd and slightly uncomfortable, and it did a pretty good job of upsetting her, she didn't like hating people. It was such a shame that someone so gorgeous, was such a complete and utter asshole.

At least Nate and Jason were better than what she had ever dreamed. Nate was a sweetheart, and a total gentleman. He was also super charming, and outrageously handsome, of course. He was every girls dream guy, and not to mention he had incredible musical abilities.

And then there was Jason, the happy, loveable, goofball with a knack for play the guitar better than any average rockstar. He had the biggest heart in the world, and he was so caring and kind, and there was absolutely no one in the world like Jason Alexander.

Mitchie sighed softly, feeling slightly better thinking of the better halves of Connect 3.

"Hey, Mitch." Speaking of.

"Hey, Nate." She greeted as he sauntered into the kitchen, plucking a piece of bacon off her plate that she had gotten from room service after he confrontation with Shane.

"So, Shane's in the living room, a little more pissed off than usual. I take it your bonding didn't exactly go very well?" He assumed, and instantly a frown took over her face at the mention of the temperamental singer. Nate took the displeasure on her face as a yes.

"What did he say?" He knew it was going to be bad, it was Shane after all. Bad was all you ever got around him.

"Well, basically he implied that he hated me, and that he didn't want to bother getting to know me, and then he tried to seduce me into having sex with him." Her scowl deepened with every word she spoke that told of the recent memory.

Nate sighed angrily, but unfortunately, he wasn't exactly surprised. The only stupid thing on Shane Gray's mind was sex, popularity, and money. And it was getting really old, really fast. Three years ago, Nate would've thought that Shane would've been the last person to end up like that. But things were very, very different three years ago.

Nate plopped down into one of the chairs that occupied the small hotel kitchen and scooted closer to Mitchie. He sighed, running his hands through his curly hair, trying to think of a way to make his words work.

"Look, that's just…Shane. He's an ass. You're gonna be pissed when I tell you this, but I think that he only agreed to this because he thought he was going to get laid regularly."

As the words came regretfully out of Nate's mouth, Mitchie felt herself fuming. But she knew it wouldn't do any good getting pissed. She didn't to even look at Shane, and she didn't want to let her anger out on Nate.

"Why is he such an a_ss_?" She tried to keep her anger out of his voice, but it wasn't an easy thing to do, and Nate understood that. He usually felt the same way towards Shane most of the time.

"He just got way too used to the treatment he got. All of a sudden we got paid tons of money for doing gigs and talk shows, fans and cameras, and of course girls lusted after him. And he didn't even try to hold back. His pants did most of the talking for him. It sucks, he never used to be like this." Nate sighed sadly, and Mitchie responded with a sympathetic look.

"He used to be the nicest guy I knew, though he had always had a temper, it wasn't as bad as it is now. He used to be like my brother. Music was his passion, he wrote most of the songs that went on our first album. Ya know, sometimes I just wish we had never gotten famous, because Shane would still be my best friend, he never would've turned out like this."

Somehow, he managed to forget he was even talking to Mitchie, too lost in his thoughts of what used to be or what could've been. He was shocked back into reality when he felt Mitchie laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. His gaze snapped up to her eyes, full of sadness and sympathy.

He lifted the corner of his lips in a tiny smile that didn't reach his eyes. Mitchie smiled sadly at him before standing, urging him to do the same. Once he stood, slightly confused but curious, Mitchie slid her arms around the curls haired rock star's neck in a comforting hug.

Nate smiled and hugged her back, slipping his arms around her waist in return, appreciating her comforting gestures.

After a few simple moments, Mitchie pulled back from Nate and gave him a smile.

"Do you still think the old Shane is still in there?"

Nate pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, I do. It's just buried, very, very deep."

"Where the fuck is my goddamn phone?!" They heard Shane shouting from the living room, which had Nate backtracking his words just a little bit.

"Maybe." He countered.

Mitchie sighed and shook her head, glaring in the direction of the living room.

"How am I supposed to stand being in a relationship with him, fake or otherwise? So far, I can't stand being the same breathing room as him." Mitchie mumbled.

"I hate to say it, but you just have to put up with him, even if it is very difficult to do so. I can't even tell you how many times I've gotten into a screaming match with him over something as stupid as losing the television remote. He'll pick a fight over just about anything." Nate sighed, but tried to somewhat brighten the situation for her. "But me and Jase will be there for you if you need anything, or need to vent."

She offered him a small smile, but was cut off when Shane stalked into the kitchen and glared at the both of them.

"Where the hell's my phone at?" He demanded, seething.

"We don't know, Shane, what'd _you_ do with it?" Nate questioned, annoying lacing his voice. "It's your phone; you should be able to keep track of it."

"You're no fucking help." He cursed, ransacking through junk in the kitchen in search of his phone.

At that moment, Nate's ringtone broke the tense silence that had settled upon the three.

"Hello?" He answered after pulling the Blackberry from his pocket.

Instantly he scowled, obviously not liking what he was hearing from the caller.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and held it out for Shane to take.

"It's for you."

It was Shane's turn to scowl as he snatched the phone from Nate's grasp and pressed it against his ear.

"What?" He snapped harshly. After listening for a few moments, Shane's scowl slowly, but surely deepened.

"Yeah, fine, fuck you." Hanging up harshly, he tossed the phone back to Nate.

"What was that about?" Nate questioned, sliding the phone back into his pocket.

"As a matter of fact, it's none of your fucking business. It's between me and Mitchie." He slid his hard gaze to a fairly angered, and slightly confused Mitchie.

"It's our first assignment." Mitchie's face fell as the words fell from his mouth. "We have to go out to lunch, _alone_." He emphasized towards Nate, who glared fiercely in return.

"Great. And when exactly does this torture happen?" Mitchie spoke, a trace of venom lingering in her voice. If looks could kill, Shane's glare would have had Mitchie dead on the floor. Not that she cared, she easily returned the harsh stare.

"Lunch. There will apparently be paparazzi all over the place."

"Fine. Whatever." Mitchie muttered, while Shane merely rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room, both Nate and Mitchie glaring harshly at his retreating back.

Mitchie sighed and shook her head. "Well, I guess it had to have happened sooner or later. I'm gonna go hang out with Jason for a bit. He still in his room?" Nate nodded his head as she begrudgingly got up from her chair and made her way back towards Jason's room, glaring at Shane as she passed by him on her way.

Nate sighed and pushed his hand through his curls once more and forced himself out of his chair and into the living room in search of Shane.

He found him slouched into the couch, scowling at some show he had playing on the TV.

Nate walked over and cautiously sat next to Shane on the couch. He wasn't exactly sure how he would approach this, no matter what he said, Shane would just blow up at him no matter what. But he had to make his point known, and Shane was just going to have to listen to him no matter what his stupid head said.

"Shane, I'm gonna tell you right now, don't hurt her." Nate warned, more serious than he had ever been. Which was definitely saying something, Nate was the serious businessman of the group. But this was a different matter entirely.

Shane directed his scowl to his curly haired bandmate. "What the fuck are you talking about?" He demanded.

Nate glared at him. "Mitchie. If you hurt her, I swear to God, you'll regret it. She's not like those girls you fuck every damn night. She's new to the business, Shane. And she absolutely despises you. Don't make this any harder for her."

"Dude, fuck you, I don't have to take any shit from you."

"No, you don't. But I'm warning you, you've done a lot of stupid things, _a lot_, but Mitchie is nice, and she doesn't deserve to have to be set up with an asshole like you. She's my friend, and if you hurt her, I swear to God, I'll hurt you."

But before Shane could get a chance to curse him even more, Nate pushed himself off the couch and stalked out of the room, leaving Shane to fume.

Who the hell gave him the right to threaten him like that? Shane was beyond pissed that his so called best friend would talk to him like that. Shane could do whatever the hell he wanted, he didn't have to listen to Nate's lame attempt at threats. Rolling his eyes, he dug himself farther into the couch, training his eyes once again on the TV, not exactly knowing what he was watching, but it wasn't like he gave a shit anyways.

He was too busy thinking on what Nate had said about hurting Mitchie. And that pissed him off because thinking about it was exactly what Nate wanted him to do. But he knew he'd end up hurting Mitchie one way or another. That's just how he was. He'd get what he wanted and he'd leave without a single word. Though this was different, seeing he wasn't going to be getting what he wanted. But he knew he would end up hurting Mitchie anyways.

He always ended up hurting someone anyways. Why should Mitchie be any different? And besides, and didn't care about how some goody two shoes wannabe singer felt anyways. It was all about him, and he didn't need girls like Mitchie getting in the way of his fame.


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm SOOOO sorry for not updating in awhile, and even more sorry that I haven't yet finished up 'Got Me Going Crazy' but I've had major writers block, and I got a sudden burst of inspiration for this, though my writing seems to be a bit off, so I apologize if this isn't all that great. I'll try to to get the last chapter of GMGC up asap.

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**It didn't take long for Mitchie to learn that whenever she was with Jason, she'd always end up laughing. Jason tended to not realize when he was doing something funny and always ends up confused when Mitchie would randomly burst out laughing. Well, more confused than usual. He was just way too adorable for his own good. And he had this uncanny way of making her feel refreshed and completely carefree. And even if he talked about the most random and childish things, Mitchie always listened intently to him because he was always just so happy, like nothing could bring him down and it was so contagious that even if she had to worst day possible, she could talk to Jason and instantly forget about it.

"So you have _how_ many birdhouses?" Mitchie giggled as Jason glanced at her excitedly.

"Well I'm up to 43, but there are _so_ many out there, and I want them ALL!" He exclaimed excitedly, glad that he found someone actually listened to him when he went on about his birdhouses.

"Jase, where do you keep them all?" She managed to gasp in between her giggling. She had never met someone so obsessed with birds and birdhouses before.

"Oh, I have a special room in my house dedicated especially to birds and their birdhouses." He explained proudly.

Mitchie just giggled some more and shook her head, amused at Jason's strange love of birds. But it just made him all the more adorable. And she made a mental note to call her dad and get him to send a special birdhouse kit to her so she could give to Jason.

"Well, I think that's-" She started, but was cut off by the door to Jason's room abruptly swing open to reveal an annoyed and slightly amused Shane. But the sarcastic kind of amused that put that stupid dark smirk on his face.

"Time for lunch, Mitch." He said, using that damned 'demanding' tone that he must thing actually works. The only thing it succeeded in doing was pissing her off. This of course made her good mood quickly diminish. Shane had a tendency of doing that to her.

Jason had the air of refreshment and happiness, whereas Shane had the air of anger and bitterness, and she was not looking forward to spending the afternoon inhaling it. But she didn't have a choice. This was definitely not her way of promoting herself.

She sighed reluctantly and glanced at Jason who gave her a comforting and soothing smile as she made her way out of his room and swiftly past Shane.

She trudged out into the living area of the hotel room, grabbing her sunglasses on the way out, trying to ignore Shane's eyes roaming her body.

Shane followed behind her, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was checking her out. He might've hated her guts, but that did not mean that she didn't have a hell of a body. She wasn't stick thin, she was curvy in all the right places and he could only imagine running his hands down her body and placing his mouth all over her. But as those thoughts crossed his mind, he instantly scowled. Not knowing if she would ever _let_ him put his hands on her. He wouldn't count on it.

"Where are we going?" She asked impatiently, crossing her arms across her chest as Shane finally got a good look at what she was wearing. Black, form fitting jeans with a white belt and a red Ramones t-shirt and a pair of red converse on her feet. He had no idea what kind of music she played, he really could care less actually, but this look definitely made her seem like a rocker. Though she looked to simple and casual to actually pull it off. Whereas Shane, a 'real' rockstar wore his signature black skinny jeans, designer of course. A tight, custom made white v-neck t-shirt with his signature black leather jacket, also custom made. He might _look_ as simple as Mitchie did, but his outfit was worth thousands of dollars, of course that didn't include his designer boots, which were at least a thousand dollars by themselves. Oh and of course his two hundred dollar sunglasses which he swiftly pulled over his eyes before he answered Mitchie's earlier question.

"The Italian place a few blocks over, it's crawling with paparazzi." He responded snidely, which in turn caused Mitchie to glare at him and grit her teeth.

"You mean the place that costs like, a hundred dollars a person?"

Shane rolled his eyes. "Yes, got a problem with that?"

Mitchie smirked. "Nope. But you're paying."

Shane scoffed in disbelief. "Says who?"

"Me. And if you don't, I'm sure the paparazzi will find that detail very interesting." She threatened with an amused smirk.

Shane scowled and glared fiercely at her. She merely smirked and sauntered out the hotel room, very pleased with herself, and instantly Shane couldn't wait to get this stupid 'date' over with.

They didn't speak a word to each other in the elevator, and they stood as far away from each other as possible. Mitchie still had her smirk while Shane was scowling deeply.

They were still silent as they walked through the lobby, but they could both see the flashes going off outside the front of the hotel, just as they were supposed to.

"Show time." Shane muttered to himself before speaking so Mitchie could hear him. "Look happy, this as to look believable."

She rolled her eyes at the demanding tone, but somehow managed to plaster a fake smile that she knew would fool everyone. Shane did the same, used to fooling the paparazzi. He also knew that his acting skills were impeccable.

As they managed to get outside of the lobby, all the reporters and paparazzi went insane with question. Of course, like good little celebrities, Shane and Mitchie kept their head down and tried to politely push their way through the mess of cameras. Of course, those who were used to photographing Shane were shocked that he wasn't screaming at them to 'Get out of my fucking way!'

But then there were the ones that were freaking out when they saw America's bad boy with America's newest sweetheart.

But somehow Shane and Mitchie managed to get to Shane's SUV, which was of course chauffeured. As soon as the door to the SUV was shut, their happy façade disappeared.

"Fucking parasites." Shane cursed under his breath, slinging his seat belt across his body as Mitchie sat all the way across from him, staying silent while staring out her window.

The ride was short, but they didn't say a word to each other. And they didn't plan to. Mitchie was typically a quiet person anyways, so she had no problem with this. Shane, on the other hand was getting aggravated, and the ride seemed to get longer the more the silence continued to drag on. Mitchie sure knew how to push his buttons, even if she wasn't aware that she was doing so.

But finally, the painfully long ride ended as the chauffeur pulled up to the high class restaurant where, surprise surprise, there were even more paparazzi waiting for them. Shane figured Nigel had called them to tell them they were going to be there.

As the chauffeur opened the door for them, they both plastered those fake smiles on their faces yet again as they managed to push their way through the crowd for the second time that day.

As soon as they got in, the server saw who they were, he instantly led them to a booth, which Mitchie assumed was a usual table for Shane because it was slightly secluded near the back of the room.

She thanked the server as he set the menus down in front of them, whereas Shane merely ignored him. Once again, something else about Shane Gray that didn't surprise her.

She sighed and opened up her menu, hoping to find something she liked at a very, _very_ high price. She really felt the need to irritate the hell out of Shane, and she grinned at the extremely high prices of _everything_ on the menu.

When they ordered, after of course Shane got picky about what they should and shouldn't put in his meal, while Mitchie smirked in satisfaction at the flash of annoyance in his eyes when she ordered to most expensive thing on the menu.

Then they were stuck there, in a booth for God knows how long. It was hard sitting in a booth with someone you absolutely hate. The air around them was very tense.

"Twenty questions." Shane said, breaking the very tense silence, and causing Mitchie to look up at him instead of the dessert menu.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Let's play twenty questions. We might as well try to do something." He sounded irritated, like he didn't even want to play the game, but he was desperate for something.

"Too bad I don't enjoy talking to you."

Shane scoffed and glared at her.

"You think I enjoy talking to _you?_ At least my idea will make this stupid lunch go faster.

"Really? Because talking to you makes the time go so much slower because I hate it so much."

Shane growled slightly, his all too famous temper rising inside of him.

"Well you'll just have to deal with it." He snarled. "First. Question."

Mitchie rolled her eyes, but didn't respond, giving to Shane, not knowing if she'd like any of Shane's stupid questions.

"Favorite hobby?" Shane himself didn't even know why the hell he wanted to ask her questions. It's not like he had any interest in getting to know her. Maybe he could use some of it against her later.

"Gee, Shane, I don't know." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes yet again, much to Shane's irritated confusion. "I'm a musician, you do the math."

"Not everyone likes what they do."

"Like who?" She shot back.

"Like me!" Mitchie froze. She knew Shane was a drama queen, and an asshole, but she never knew that he didn't like to play his music.

"My turn." She responded, deciding to use his own game against him. "Why don't you like playing your music?"

Shane scowled. He should've seen that coming. Of course he shouldn't have opened his big mouth. It was gonna end up being her using this against him. His hatred for her just went up a few notches. He didn't mean to say that, and he instantly regretted. Like he was really going to tell Mitchie Torres that he hated the stupid music that the stupid label let him play. For all he cared the label could go ahead and drop them. If it was just him, and not Nate and Jason, he would never have agreed to do this stupid relationship. But he was never going to tell Mitchie that.

"Forget it. This game is stupid." Shane muttered, loud enough for Mitchie to hear. Mitchie was about to say something, which would have more than likely pissed him off even more, but thankfully their food arrived right before she could open her mouth.

They ate in another tense silence for several minutes, Mitchie looking suspiciously up at Shane every once in awhile. Shane was aware that she was, but he simply ignored her. He didn't want any of her questions, which he knew she was just dying to ask him.

Finally, she got fed up. "Shane-"

"Don't." He interrupted sharply, glancing up at her for the first time in ten minutes. "I know what you're going to ask. But don't ask it." He warned. "It's none of your business, so just stay out of it."

She sighed, glaring at him slightly. Why did she even care? Because she was a caring person. And sometimes she hated that about herself. Especially now. She didn't want to care about what was going on through Shane's head. So she forced herself not to. He was right, it wasn't her business. But somehow she got the feeling that what he said about not liking his music had something to do with his attitude. But what did she know? She barely knew the guy. And that's how she wanted it to stay.

Finally they finished their meal, and Mitchie fought the urge to get a dessert. But that meant having to stay in the booth with Shane even longer, so she would just get something sweet later. After they were given the check, they both walked out back onto the paparazzi infested sidewalk and to the SUV once again.

They didn't say anything to each other as they got back to the hotel room and Mitchie instantly sought out Nate. He was lounging on the couch watching a movie on the TV, and looked up curiously as he heard the door opening. Shane, of course, ignored him and stalked back into his suite, slamming the door so hard that it practically shook the walls.

Nate sighed as Mitchie plopped down next to him. "So, I'm guess the date didn't go so hot?" Nate guessed and Mitchie nodded her head.

"What did he do?" Nate asked.

"Well, we bickered most of the time. But there was something he said that I wanted to ask you about."

Nate scrunched his eyebrows together. "What did he say?"

Mitchie sighed and bit her lip. "He said he didn't like playing his music. What did he mean by that?"

Nate sighed. Though he was shocked to hear that Shane admitted it to her. Shane never really talked to anyone about that, and the only reason that Nate and Jason knew was because they were going through the same thing Shane was. They weren't playing their music anymore. They played the music that only the label approved of. Almost all of their original sound was gone, and Shane didn't exactly take that too lightly.

"When Connect 3 got really big, the label was starting to worry that the fans would stop liking our sound. So they forced us to change it up to be directed at the right audience. Shane hates the new sound; we barely even get to write our own songs. That's when he started to get worse, because he couldn't vent to the world about how he was feeling. But that was just added onto the fame getting to his head. "

"How can they force you to change your sound?"

Nate sighed again, unsure of how to explain it. "They can't, but they scared us into thinking that it might actually be true. That our fans would move on and get tired of our sound. So we changed it. And it was probably one of the worst mistakes we could've ever made."

Mitchie sighed, finally understanding a little bit about what Shane was going through. Of course that wasn't any excuse to act the way he did.

"Thanks, Nate. I was just curious about why he was so dead set against telling me." Nate just nodded. "Hey, do you mind if I borrow one of your guitars and your room? "Kinda just got hit with a sudden burst of inspiration."

Nate chuckled softly and nodded his head. "Go for it. I'll be right here if you need me."

She smiled appreciatively at him before standing and heading back to Nate's suite. Upon entering the room, she instantly spotted Nate's acoustic guitar and she made a beeline straight for it. Carefully grabbing the instrument, she sat down on one of the couches in the room and perched the guitar onto her lap. Smiling lightly to herself, she began strumming, and began making her inspiration come to life.

* * *

Shane huffed as he scratched out yet another horrible lyric that he had been trying to write for the past five minutes. It had been awhile since he had actually written his own lyrics, he never saw the point anymore seeing as he was the only one who'd be able to hear them, but he needed to vent his anger and all his feelings before it built up even more inside of him. But he was just getting frustrated, because no matter how hard he tried, his words never seemed to come out right.

Groaning in aggravation he threw down his pen and pushed his way out of the chair, almost knocking it over in the process before stalking out of his room. All the frustration was giving him a headache, and he couldn't write the perfect song with a horrible headache. So he made his way to the bathroom, which was across the hall from Nate's room, and dragged the Advil out of the medicine cabinet. He swallowed both pills without bothering to use water as he took several deep breaths.

When his thoughts finally quieted down, he finally heard it. The soft strumming of the guitar, mixed with a voice that he had only ever dreamt of hearing. It was perfect; the quiet ballad called out to him and pulled him in. A song had never had that affect on him before, unless it was one of his own.

He walked out of the bathroom and across the hall, noticing that Nate's door wasn't fully closed, carefully he pushed it open just a fraction of an inch wider and saw Mitchie, and instantly he felt his throat practically close up.

Her eyes were closed as she sang, her voice blending perfectly with the soft notes being emitted from the guitar.

He knew she must've been at least a tiny bit good to be set up with Shane Gray. But this was something he hadn't expected. She was beyond good. In fact, it even reminded him of the music he used to write. The stuff that meant so much more than his stupid cookie cutter pop star crap.

He didn't know why, but it pissed him off. Why did _she_ get the right to play her own stuff while Connect 3 got stuck with the pop crap? It wasn't fair.

But that was only one side. The other side wasn't anger, it was awe. He was in awe of her voice because he had truly never heard such a thing in his entire career as a musician. Her voice made him feel something he had never felt before. He got tingles up and down his spine, and he felt slightly turned on as he watched her, because she was so into her music, because it was truly coming from her heart and soul.

But now, for once, Shane Gray didn't what to think of Mitchie Torres anymore.

* * *

So I don't know about the ending…but I figured he had to hear her sing eventually. This was surprisingly one of my longer chapters, I dunno, it felt kind filler-ish to me. My writing's still in a little bit of a rough patch, so go easy on me if ya hated it. But, I'd still love to get a review.


	6. Chapter 5

**So, who gets the award for worst updater ever?? Oh, ME! I'm SO sorry that I'm so horrible about udating, and I don't even want to look at the time to see how long it has been. :/ But I've had the worst case of writers block known to man. Seriously, I would sit down and try to write but all that would come up was a bunch of crap. I know y'all wanted an update, but I didn't want to put out something that was just absolutely terrible. I don't know if this is the greatest written chapter in the world, but I did my best, and I'll probably be putting up some random oneshots so I can try to get back in the groove on my writing. If anyone is actually reading this, thank you for sticking around! You're the best!**

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Shane, being the musician that he was, had heard some incredible voices and talent, whether it be from browsing music pages on the internet from undiscovered talent, or from small concerts that he got into during his downtime. But nothing couldn't even seem to compare to what he just heard from Mitchie. It intrigued him, so much that he turned on his laptop and for the first time, he searched for a name that wasn't his.

As soon as he hit enter, several gossip pages popped up, which he ignored because of all the lies and rumors they had a tendency to spread, and he skipped straight to Mitchie's verified MySpace page.

The first thing he saw was an advertisement for her new album. He scrolled down to her music player and turned up the volume on his laptop. His ears were immediately greeted by her pop/rock music and her amazing, pure voice. While listening, he scrolled down farther to her friends and comments. Most of the comments were of course admiring her and her music. Others were guys comments, telling her how hot she was. And for some reason the several ones that he read made him feel..._something_ in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't really pinpoint what it was exactly, but it was definitely something that didn't go over well with Shane. He did his best to shake it off and scrolled away towards her pictures, where he had to admit, she _did_ look pretty hot in almost all of them. What struck him as odd was that she had several pictures with her fans. On Connect 3's MySpace page there were mainly only promotional for their tour or an album. So Shane was surprised to see quite a few personal pictures.

Before he could click on anything else, he heard the click of his door opening to reveal Nate on the other side. He immediately reached for the mute button on his laptop, but it was too late for Nate's quick ears.

"Dude, did I just hear one of Mitchie's songs?" Nate asked, astonished that Shane could actually be listening to some else's music. Especially Mitchie's.

"No!" He answered, almost too quickly.

Nate just smirked. "So it was someone else's hit song that I head coming from your laptop?"

Shane scowled. "Fine. So I was checking out her music. So what?"

"Nothing, nothing. You just never listen to anybody else's music. That I know of. What brought this on?" Nate was genuinely curious, but Shane was still irritated that he had been interrupted while trying to find out more about Mitchie.

"Look, I heard her playing and singing in her room, and I got curious, okay?"

Nate nodded in understanding, and knowing that Shane was already agitated about it, he didn't push the discussion any farther. Well, except for the one thing he was even more curious about.

"Did you like it?"

Shane looked at him. "Like what?"

"Mitchie's song. Did you like it?"

Shane froze, hesitant. He didn't want to admit that he was completely mesmerized and captivated my Mitchie's music, but he couldn't deny that it was one of the best songs he had heard in awhile. Including his own. But he still felt that irritation that he had been feeling since the day he met Mitchie.

"It was okay."

Nate sighed. "Just okay?"

"It wasn't up to _my_ standards exactly."

"_Your_ standards?!" Shane's head shot towards the door when he realized those words didn't come from Nate, but from a fairly furious Mitchie. "You wouldn't know good music if it came up and kicked you in the ass!"

Shane cocked his eyebrow at her, getting some satisfaction from her very angry state. "Oh really? I do happen to know good music, and I also happen to know that yours is _not _it!" He shot back, watching with a smirk as her temper flared even more. He didn't think he had seen her this angry before, and he wanted to see how far he could push it.

"It's better than your pop star crap!"

But _that_ was crossing the line. He had already spilled to her that he didn't like playing the music that they were forced to play, and he could tell that she was ready to use it against him, just like he had predicted.

"That pop star crap isn't _mine_!" He shouted.

"Guys-" Nate tried to cut in, but to no avail. The anger between Shane and Mitchie was just too tense.

"At least I'm not a coward and let the company make me play crap I don't wanna play!" She shouted back.

"Oh boy." Nate muttered and slowly retreated out of the room, knowing that what Mitchie just said would absolutely infuriate Shane.

Infuriate was an understatement.

"_Coward_?" He bellowed. "You think I'm a _coward_?!"

"I _know_ you're a coward, Shane! If you weren't, you'd still be playing _your_ music."

Shane was trembling with anger, but he didn't say anything back because he knew she was right. If he had stood up to the record label, and defended his sound, he might not have to play the crap that he did every night. But he couldn't admit that to Mitchie. He couldn't admit that to anybody because Shane Gray _wasn't_ a coward.

"I told you before that was none of your business!" He wasn't shouting now, but he said it viciously through gritted teeth, and it had Mitchie backing down.

"No. It's not. And you're not entitled to trash my music either." She glared icily at him for a moment before turning on her heel and leaving the room, therefor leaving Shane to sulk and glare.

He sighed deeply, pushing a hand through his hair out of frustration. She could be so infuriating that it drove Shane absolutely crazy. They couldn't seem to go one minute around each other without arguing. He didn't know how he was going to get through this stupid fake relationship, but he wanted it to be over with already.

Mentally and physically exhausted from the fighting he had done with Mitchie, he collapsed on his bed and let sleep easily overcome him.

* * *

Shane and Mitchie's relationship didn't get any better of the next two weeks that they were stuck together. They all relocated back to Los Angeles, taking a few weeks off for break, where Mitchie was forced to spend as much time as possible at the Connect 3 mansion. She was usually content to spend that time hanging out with Jason and Nate, and as far away from Shane as possible.

If anything, their relationship seemed to get worse. Mitchie had stopped trying to be civil when she was around him, and the only words they tended to share they were usually sniping at each other or glaring at one another. But they did what they needed to do. They went out for lunch in front of the camera's, they were even forced to go as far as holding hands in public. But they pretty much refused to be anywhere near each other when they were out of the public eye.

But the thing that Shane hated the most? Even though he found her completely irritating to the point that he nearly hated her, he couldn't get rid of the feelings of attraction that had been there since he first met her. Every time she got mad at him, which was as often as he breathed, he found himself ridiculously attracted to her, and it was severely infuriating because he had never felt something so strong before. It was enough to drive him insane.

He had also been secretly keeping up with her music career via her MySpace page and official website. Despite how much he couldn't stand her, he had to admit that her music was incredible, even though he wouldn't actually admit that to anyone but himself.

On a surprisingly quiet Friday morning, Shane sat at the breakfast table choking down one of Nate's horrible omelet's, and Shane made a mental note to hire their own chef or something because Nate's cooking was just _ridiculous_.

But whilst in the middle of trying to digest the food, Nigel came strolling into the house, which only meant one thing.

Shane was going to have yet another 'date' with Mitchie. Wonderful.

"Shane, I have another assignment for you and Miss Torres."

"There's a shock." He muttered, falling into an even worse mood than he had been at the sight of Nate's omelets.

"She has another concert tonight, and the word in some tabloids are that they have yet to spot you at one."

Shane glared fiercly at Nigel.

"You're making me go to her stupid concert?!"

"Shane, it's not that big a deal." Nigel tried to reason. "All you have to do is be seen going in, just sit through the concert and then leave. It's just a couple of hours."

"A couple hours from hell." Shane muttered, though he was intrigued at the though of seeing Mitchie perform live. But he sure as hell didn't show that. He had to show as much reluctance as possible, because frankly he was tired of this whole fake relationship thing. He still managed to cringe at the mere word.

"Shane, you have to do it. End of story." Nigel said and that damn authoritive tone that told Shane that anymore arguing was unacceptable.

Shane scowled deeply as Nigel strolled back out with a smirk on his face. He obviously enjoyed watching Shane go through with this assignment.

"Come on, Shane. You can't think her music's _that_ bad."

"It's her I don't like, Nate."

"Which I also don't get. Man, she's one of the coolest people I've ever met. She's funny, she's nice, and talented. I just don't get why you have such a grudge against her."

"Nate, she yells at me whenever she see's me, she snaps at me, and she insults me, I have no reason to like her!"

Nate shook his head. "Shane, that's _your_ fault. The first thing you did when yet met her was look at her and then leave to go fuck some girl. You were rude to her, you tried to freaking seduce her into having sex with you, and you insult her music. Of course she does all those things to you. You deserve it."

"Whatever." Shane muttered, not letting Nate's words get to him, because unfortunately for Shane, he had a point. Shane had never even had a decent conversation with Mitchie, and that was all due to the fact that he was pissed that he was stuck with her.

Nate shook his head, thinking it was nearly impossible to get through to Shane. He didn't even know why he tried anymore. Shane was just too damn stubborn to put his pride aside and try to get to know someone.

* * *

Shane pretty much had the entire mansion to himself for the afternoon. Nate was at some meeting with the PR team, Jason was visiting some girl he had surprisingly been seeing for awhile, and Mitchie was off at the venue doing soundcheck for her show. So it was one of the rare times that Shane actually got to have some time alone to himself. And what did he do with some of that time?

The answer slightly infuriated him, but he couldn't help it.

He checked Mitchie's newly released music video for her single.

It was horrible because he loved every second of it.

The song was great, and the video was original and awesome.

And of course the way Mitchie looked in the video had Shane nearly drooling.

It really wasn't fair.

He scowled at the computer screen before shutting it off altogether.

He now only had a couple of hours before he had to show up to Mitchie's concert, so he busied himself by plucking at his guitar and writing down some lyrics that would probably only be heard by him and no one else. But then he really had to start getting ready, but he didn't care if he was late. As much as it intrigued him to see how she performed, he really didn't want to be there anyways. So he took his time getting ready, making sure his hair was perfect and that his outfit was the way he wanted. And when he couldn't find anymore reason to stay, he reluctantly went outside where a car was already waiting to take him to the venue.

* * *

He had never been too positive on exactly how popular Mitchie was, maybe enough to fill a decent sized venue, but never, _never_, did he imagine she'd be playing the Staple's center. Connect 3 had only played there a couple times themselves. But it definitely gave him a little insight into how famous she was.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed how many people there were as he was driven through to a back entrance. She was a lot more famous than he had thought she would be. But then again, he shouldn't have been surprised, her songs were awesome. But as of recently he hadn't been sure about how many people still cared about _real_ music. The one's with heart and soul and emotion, not the ones that were made for dance parties or just pointless ones. Maybe he was wrong.

Shane sighed as they pulled around to the back entrance, where there was of course paparazzi, and several fans because it was also the section that Mitchie entered and left. He braced himself as he slid out of the car and was met by bright flashes and the screams of the teenage fan girls. Now he was officially there, and the media could get off their back about him not attending Mitchie's concert. But now all he had to do was sit through the rest of the show.

Thankfully, Mitchie was busy warming up so he didn't have to see her, instead he was escorted to a VIP section, away from all the screaming fans and their crappy cameras. He had a perfect view of the stage of course, not that it mattered. He just had to get through this and he could back home and be by himself.

He waited rather impatiently for the show to start, not caring at all about the opening acts, as he sipped at a water that had been given to him, and finally, the lights dimmed and the crowd began to roar as the introduction music began to pick up. And then all of a sudden, there was Mitchie. The crowds screaming grew louder at the sight of her, and Mitchie gave them a smile as she began to play her electric guitar.

Shane was mesmerized the entire show by the way she sang so passionately and just totally rocked it on her guitar, and even sometimes the piano. Shane realized that she was even better live than she was recorded. Her voice was so pure and raw, and it had Shane in awe the entire time.

Not only the way she played and sang, but the way she seemed completely and utterly happy on that stage, like it was where she belonged. When she wasn't playing an instrument, she would be running around and touching the hands that reached desperately for her. It had Shane reminiscing to a time that _he_ used to have that much fun, and he used to be that happy up on a stage.

The show seemed to end too soon for Shane's liking, and he found himself clapping along with everyone else as she said goodbye to her fans and then disappeared offstage.

After the stadium began clearing out, Shane was once again escorted backstage to where he would meet up with Mitchie and they would then have to leave together. For some reason he was looking forward to seeing her, and he actually felt that need to tell her how good she did. He knew how good that felt when someone used to tell him that. Now people were just afraid to go near him, which usually had been fine with him, but still, he missed someone telling that he done a good job.

That was what was on his mind as he knocked on Mitchie's dressing room door. After he heard her acknowledge the knock, he carefully opened the door and slipped inside, and he gulped slightly as he saw Mitchie. She was wearing only sweatpants and a fitting tank top, which shouldn't have been even remotely attractive, but it had Shane lose his train of thought.

When she turned and saw that it was him, she frowned and proceeded with brushing her hair that had been tussled during the show.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes." She muttered, avoiding his gaze.

He shifted uncomfortable and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Take your time."

She froze briefly, giving him an odd look, because that wasn't a comment she would normally expect from Shane Gray.

"Look, about your show-"

"I don't want to hear it, Shane." She cut him off, causing Shane to frown at her.

"Don't want to hear what? You don't know what I was going to say." He said, slightly defensive.

"I don't wanna hear any criticism from you, Shane. You've already made it fairly clear that you don't like my music, and I don't want anymore of your stupid insults."

_He_ was the one that was insulted now. He knew he wanted her to think that he didn't like her music, but he hadn't realized he had trashed her _that_ bad. But now he was trying to compliment her and she wasn't having any of it.

"How do you know I was going to criticize you?" He demanded.

She slammed her brush down and swung around to face Shane. "Because, that's all you do. That's all you know _how_ to do, Shane. You always have to be better than everyone else, and you make sure people know that."

His frown deepened. Was he really that bad? He shook his head, his temper flaring just a little bit.

"I wasn't going to criticize you." He muttered.

She gave him a skeptical look. "Oh really? Then what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say that...you did a good job." He muttered, feeling utterly stupid and embarrassed.

Mitchie was shocked to say the least. Shane Gray had never complimented her, in fact she wasn't sure if he ever complimented anybody. But for him to say that she did a good job was pretty much leaving her speechless.

"Oh...well, thanks..." She said awkwardly, because this was the one time that she and Shane weren't actually down each others throats and it was...weird...

He nodded his head, and avoided her gaze as she went back to brushing her hair.

After a few minutes of a seriously awkward silence, Mitchie finally finished up. She turned to Shane after she had made sure that all her things were gathered up.

"You ready to go?"

When he looked at her, Shane felt that feeling of attraction that had been nagging at him ever since the first day he saw her. It was one of the first times that he had seen her when she wasn't mad. She had little make up on, but it only seemed to make her even more beautiful to Shane, and for once, he had no control over his actions. He let himself completely go. He walked up closer to her, placed his hands on her hips where he felt that ridiculous spark feeling burst in his fingertips.

And then he slammed his lips down on hers.

* * *

**So, what'd ya think?**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Wanna throw pointy objects at me for taking so long to update??**

**Let me know in a review!**

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	7. Chapter 6

**Whoa, dude! I got a TON of reviews! Thank y'all SOO much for still reading this story, it really means a lot to me, and to thank you, I give you a new chapter, so I really hope it's good, and I really hope you guys keep reviewing, because all of y'all are so awesome.**

* * *

Mitchie had no idea what had happened. One second she was trying to ignore the awkward silence that he engulfed her and Shane, and the next, she had felt Shane's lips pressed up against hers. She was frozen in absolute shock. What the hell would possess Shane to just randomly kiss her? He had made it pretty clear that he basically hated her, though granted he never exactly held back on telling her that he wanted to have sex with her, but still. And this wasn't exactly a rough kiss like Mitchie would have assumed. She wasn't exactly sure what it was actually. It was weird. It felt...good.

Really good.

Too good.

She hated him. He was an egotistical, stuck up, sex addicted, snob. (Honestly, she could go on and on about all of his flaws.) So she didn't understand why she was feeling these strange sparks, like there were fireworks going off, and her heart was doing this weird jumpy thing that she wasn't sure if she liked or not.

But she had no idea what to do about the fact that Shane was still kissing her.

And she was kissing him back.

Not much, she was still pretty much shock, but she couldn't help herself. His lips were so soft, and he tasted just as good as he looked, though she usually kept that little bit of information to herself. But she felt her lips moving against his and her hands sliding to his shoulders and steadily up towards his face. But she finally came to her senses when she felt his tongue tracing her lower lip.

She jerked back abruptly, removing her hands from him at the same time his left her hips. She stared at him in shock with wide eyes, not knowing if she could form any coherent words from her surprise.

But he seemed just as shocked as she did, like he didn't know what he was doing when he first kissed her.

"Shane....what...what was that?" She demanded, but Shane didn't get a chance to answer when there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Shane, Mitchie!" Mitchie heard her security guard call. "We gotta roll, hurry it up."

Mitchie wasted no time in obliging, wanting to get away from the awkward tension that had suddenly surrounded her and Shane. She grabbed all her things and immediately left the room.

"Mitchie, wait!" Shane tried to call after her, but to no avail, she was already practically sprinting down the hallway. Shane huffed and followed quickly behind her. They still had an image to keep up whether she liked it or not.

He easily caught up with her and began to match her stride, and he could see the slight irritation and confusion on her face even as she desperately avoided his gaze.

When they got outside, Shane reached for her hand like they were always told to do and followed after the bodyguard who was pushing all the screaming fans and the paparazzi out of the way so Shane and Mitchie could get to the car. Shane did his best to put on a smile, but it was hard while he was still thinking about the kiss. He didn't what had happened to make him do so. Though, he had wanted to kiss her since the first day they met, but that was before he realized how irritating she could be.

But the bad thing was that he actually enjoyed it. He had never enjoyed a kiss so much in his life and it was a strange sensation. When she had started to kiss him back, which he would confront her about later, his heart skipped a beat. Though he grimaced at the mere thought of his heart doing such a thing, but still, he couldn't deny it. When she had pulled away, Shane felt that intense urge to place his lips right back ontop of hers, but he restrained himself, because he knew it was the last thing he should have been doing, but he couldn't help what he wanted _so bad_.

He sighed inaudibly to himself as they finally made it to the car, where Mitchie slid in first and Shane followed after, thankful to be in the sanctuary of the car and away from grabby, screaming fans and annoying flashes coming from the paparazzi's cameras. But as soon as the car door was shut, and it was just him and Mitchie, that awkward tension that had been present before rose significantly around them again, and it made Shane shift in his seat uncomfortable. Mitchie was sitting as far away from him as she possibly could.

There wasn't a word spoken between them, and Shane wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. What would she say to him if he did want to talk about it? Would she be even more pissed at him than usual? Did she actually enjoy it, which honestly that one wouldn't surprise Shane because he was a pretty good kisser if he said so himself, but he just didn't know. But he did know that he wanted to talk about it again.

And if he got the chance he definitely wanted to kiss her again.

Whether he hated her or not, she wasn't a horrible kisser either, and he definitely wanted to get his lips back on her again.

But if she was pissed at him, he didn't say that happening. Ever again. And that certainly put a damper on his mood.

When they got back to the Connect 3 mansion, Mitchie practically bolted out of the car, not bothering to wait for him. But Shane wanted to try and talk to her, so he tried to get out as quickly as she did and follow after her. He huffed as they ran into the house and Mitchie tried to get away from him.

"Mitchie, wait up!" He called after her, but she wasn't listening to him. So he practically sprinted towards her where he then grabbed her elbow and forced her to look at him.

"Let go of me, Shane. I don't want to talk." She snapped, trying to pull her arm away from him, but his grip was too strong.

"Well, I do, Mitchie!"

Mitchie glared him and continued to struggle, but Shane wouldn't let go. "You shouldn't have kissed me, Shane! It was stupid!"

"Too bad. I already did! And now we need to talk about it!"

"I'm not talking to you, Shane. Let me go!" She demanded.

"No! We're going to talk about this!"

"There's nothing to talk about, Shane. You kissed me, it's not gonna happen again, end of story!"

"It's never gonna happen again?" Shane asked with a raised eyebrow, and Mitchie gave him a firm nod of her head, still trying to pull away from his grip.

Shane scoffed and shook his head. Never gonna happen again, huh? He glared slightly at her before pulling her flush up against him and pressing his lips forcefully against hers for the second time that night, except this time he had no intention of letting her pull away. His hand still had a firm grip on her arm, but his other arm was snaking its way around her waist and holding her tightly against him.

Mitchie struggled for a few moments, but when Shane didn't ease up, she slowly began giving into him, melting into his embrace as she let her free arm move up around his neck as she finally began kissing him back.

When Shane felt her kiss him back, he loosened his hold on her arm so she had more room to move. When it was free, she wrapped it around his neck and let her hand push into his thick hair while Shane immediately began to deepen the kiss, letting his tongue trace her lips, and this time, she let him in. Shane instantly began fighting for dominance, as his tongue tangled and slid against hers sensually.

Shane found himself easily getting lost in everything that was Mitchie. Her taste, her smell, the way her body felt pressed so tightly against his. He had never found himself craving a girl so much and it was absolutely mesmerizing and infuriating all at the same time. He hated feeling such intense emotions about a girl, but at the same time he wanted so much more than what he was getting with this kiss. He was so completely confused, but it didn't stop him from kissing Mitchie even more intensely.

So far caught up in what Shane's lips were doing to hers, she barely noticed when Shane blindly backed her up into a wall. Shane was completely losing control of what his body was doing, and found himself lifting Mitchie slightly as her legs wrapped around him on instinct while their kiss continued to heat up.

But Mitchie had to pull away from his lips on account of not being able to breathe, but that didn't seem to stop Shane as his lips trailed their way down her neck where they sucked and nipped, causing Mitchie to let out a meek moan.

"Shane..." She gasped as he continued to bite down on her neck, making her tighten her grip on his hair, pulling at one of the strands, but apparently that only fueled Shane's desires.

Deep down Mitchie knew she should be stopping him, before it led somewhere where she wasn't sure she wanted to go.

No, she couldn't go there. Not with Shane Gray of all people.

But she didn't think she had the strength to stop him at that point. It felt so _good, _and she didn't _want_ him to stop.

"Shane? Mitchie? Are you guys home?" Shane froze when he heard Nate's voice come from the floor above them.

Shane froze before pulling back abruptly, completely forgetting that Jason and Nate would be home as well. He scowled and silently cursed them as he reluctantly let go of Mitchie when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He didn't want to stop kissing her, but he didn't want his best friends to know how he lost control of himself. He looked at Mitchie, who was flushing and looked confused, and something else he couldn't quite pinpoint, but he didn't get a chance to try and figure it out when she quickly bolted out of the room, obviously wanting to get herself put back together before seeing Jason and Nate.

He sighed and combed his hand through his hair, knowing it would look like a mess after the grip Mitchie had on it.

Just a few moments later Nate finally emerged.

"Hey, how was the concert?" Shane should have known he'd be curious about what he thought of watching Mitchie perform live, but he'd be damned if he told Nate the truth.

"It was okay. Nothing special." He muttered, causing Nate to frown.

"Shane, why is it so hard for you to admit that you like someone else's music?"

Shane glared. "I never said I didn't like it, I just said it's nothing special."

"That's where you're wrong though, and you know it."

Shane's eyes narrowed at Nate. "Is there a point to this?"

Nate just shook his head, dropping the subject. For now. He was never going to stop trying to get through to Shane. Every now and then he saw glimpses of his real best friend, but it was like Shane knew when he was starting to give in to his old self, and he just immediately turned it off.

"Where's Mitchie?"

Shane shrugged. "I dunno. Probably went home or something. Like I care." But the truth was that Shane really did care, and he wanted to finish what they had started. But she did have her own place and she wasn't going to spend every second with him or Nate. Which was good, because now Shane could figure out what the hell was going on with him and his weird attraction to Mitchie.

But thinking about it was giving him a headache. He hated that Mitchie made him feel the way he did, that his heart did...weird things whenever he was around her, more specifically when he had kissed her. And even more so how she could make him completely lose his train of thought whenever he so much as glanced at her. It was absolutely ridiculous. Shane Gray made girls feel like that, but girls had never made him feel that way before.

He shook his head before glancing at Nate again. "I'm tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed."

As soon as he was in his room he plopped onto his bed, too tired and frustrated to even take off his clothes. He didn't know what the next day would bring for him and Mitchie, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to forget about that kiss. But how was he supposed to know how Mitchie felt? She was pissed at him after the first time, she might be pissed at him again. But he had been dead set to prove to her that their first kiss wouldn't be their last, and he was determined to also prove that their second kiss won't be their last either. He hoped.

* * *

**Okay, so I'm not sure how well that turned out. I know there wasn't a ton of dialogue, but I hoped you liked it anyway, I worked for a little while on this, and I don't think it's my best, but I really tried. So leave me some feedback and tell me maybe what y'all want to see happen in this story, because since it has been awhile since I began writing this, I'm kinda stuck, so tell me what you want to see, and if I think it works I'll try to make it happen. And because I love reviews and they really truly want to make me write more. So just leave your thoughts, because it would make me super happy. **

**Also, I've been working on some oneshots, I already posted a Smitchie one, so y'all can go check that out, and also check out some other ones that I posted, and I'll probably be posting some more soon, it just depends on what pops into my head first. If you have any ideas of any oneshots you wanna see, tell me that too and I'll do it.**

**Love you all!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Okay, so I think I'm getting a little better at this updating thing. lol Sorry this took a little longer, but I wanted it to be good, cuz y'all are completely awesome for all the reviews, story alerts, favorites, etc. I love you all and I appreciate you reading this, because I really do work hard on it, and I really hope y'all continue to like it and continue reviewing because it always puts me in a good mood, and I always write better when I'm in a good mood.**

**And I got a Twitter that's just for my Fanfiction where I'll be telling you about upcoming stories, updates, and maybe even some spoilers. You can also ask me questions about upcoming chapters, or you can suggest things you wanna see or whatever. I'm open to anything. **

* * *

Mitchie was practically shaking with confusion and uncertainty as she made it to the comfort of her own apartment after practically running away from the Connect 3 mansion. After the emotional roller coaster she just went through with Shane, she was glad to be in her own home. Her apartment was nothing compared to Connect 3's mansion, but that's just the way she liked it. Comfortable, and homey, and definitely didn't draw any attention to herself. It couldn't have been any more perfect.

But unfortunately it wasn't enough to save her from the thoughts that were pounding through her head at an uncomfortable pace. She had just completely, and utterly made out with Shane Gray. And it most certainly would have led to more had Nate not have interrupted them, and that thought was unsettling to Mitchie. She had sworn to herself that she would _not_ get involved with Shane Gray in any way shape or form. She would do what she needed to do and be done with it. Kissing him the way she had was the exact opposite of what she wanted to happen. And the way it made her feel was making her feel more uncomfortable than she ever had in her life. It was obvious that she wanted Shane way more than she should. And she was about to give into him. But that would just be giving him exactly what he wanted from day one.

Sex. That was all Shane Gray thought about. And she had known that he had wanted that from her since the day that met, and maybe even before. But there had always been a small spark of hope that maybe there was a human being inside him somewhere. But she was so terrible wrong. And she couldn't help but wonder if Nate hadn't interrupted them, and they had proceeded with what they were doing, would that be it? She would have sex with him and he would have gotten what he wanted from her. She didn't know what to expect from Shane anymore. And she wasn't sure she wanted to have anything to with him anymore. She wanted all this confusion to end, all this uncertainty. She wanted it to just stop.

And she wanted this damn fake relationship to end. She didn't care what her PR team said, or what her managers said, she was done with this.

She was done with Shane Gray.

She would not, under any circumstances give herself to Shane Gray. Because she knew it would be the biggest mistake of her life.

But she couldn't help but to think of how easily she gave into his kiss. How intoxicated she became as soon as his lips met hers. How she just completely lost her self control to him. It was completely out of character for her, and she knew it couldn't ever happen again.

Those put a frown on her face, because she wasn't sure if she could resist him when and if he kissed her again. She would just have to make sure to keep her distance from him. Hopefully that would get a lot easier when she brought up ending this fake relationship to her management team.

Running her hand through her still fairly messy hair thanks to her encounter with Shane, she sauntered into her apartment in exhaustion. Her show and then what she just went through with Shane was really draining her, and she just wanted to collapse anywhere she could and just sleep for as long as she possibly could.

"Mitch, is that you?" Mitchie's best friend and roommate, Caitlyn Gellar called out.

"Yeah, it's me." Mitchie sighed and plopped on her couch, letting her head rest on the back of it and closing her eyes. She heard Caitlyn's footsteps entering the room a few moments later.

"Whoa. Tired much?"

"Ugh. You have no idea."

She heard Caitlyn laugh slightly. "I guess you weren't kidding when say it's exhausting to work with Shane Gray."

"I repeat. You have no idea."

"How was the show?"

"Probably the highlight of my day."

"What exactly happened with him? You seem totally out of it." Caitlyn always knew when there was something was wrong with Mitchie, they had known each other since they were little and they pretty much knew everything about the other. Which was what made Mitchie spill her guts to Caitlyn about what happened without hesitation. If anyone could help her through something like this, it was her best friend.

Caitlyn didn't interrupt throughout Mitchie's story, and when she was finished, Caitlyn merely stared at Mitchie. "So...you hate Shane, like with a passion, but you love kissing him?"

"It's not my fault." Mitchie whined. "Help." Mitchie pleaded.

Caitlyn chuckled. "You need to go out. Go to a club and just let loose."

Mitchie grimaced. "Cait, that's your scene, not mine. You know I don't go to clubs." Mitchie was uncomfortable at the mere thought.

"It doesn't have to be your scene, Mitch. You just need one night to have fun and just let everything go. If not you'll get stressed even more than you already are, and you know that's not gonna be good."

Mitchie frowned, because Caitlyn certainly had a point. Mitchie wasn't very good at functioning when she was stressed out. But she usually got through with her music, when she was writing and performing, not when she was partying.

"But Cait, I don't party, and I don't dance with people don't know. I'd completely stick out and look completely dumb, and it would just stress me out more."

"You just need a couple drinks in you to loosen you up." Caitlyn shrugged, but Mitchie's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Caitlyn, I'm only nineteen!"

"So?" Caitlyn acted as if it was no big deal for a minor to be drinking. It was completely against who Mitchie was.

"_So_, there's kind of this rule that says people under the age of twenty-one aren't allowed to drink!"

Caitlyn scoffed and shrugged. "Oh, come on, Mitch. Stop being so naive you can get a drink anywhere with a good fake id. And a celebrity like you is bound to get whatever she wants."

Mitchie's mouth gaped as she looked at her best friend in disbelief. People and magazines weren't kidding when they called Mitchie America's newest sweetheart. There wasn't so much as a dent in her reputation, and that was the way Mitchie liked it. She prided herself for being a good role model for the younger kids that looked up to her. She had no urge to drink or do drugs or anything like that. She didn't need stuff like that screwing up her life and wasn't usually into that stuff either. Mitchie had found her drunk a couple of times and had to take care of her, but that was pretty much it. Caitlyn didn't do drugs or was an alcoholic or anything, she just liked to go to clubs and party.

"Cait, I think that's a really bad idea. I'm probably better off locking myself in my room with my guitar."

Caitlyn gave her a look. "Mitch, it's just one night. Come on, I'm going out with James again tonight, and you need to come. Just for tonight, Mitch." She pleaded, and Mitchie slowly felt herself begin to crack. She was such a pushover hat it was pathetic. She didn't like upsetting other people, especially her best friend. But she really didn't want to go out to some club. Or be the third wheel with Caitlyn and her boyfriend or whatever Caitlyn considered him. Mitchie never knew.

"I don't know, Caitlyn. I have a feeling something like this would get me into a lot of trouble." Mitchie told her, seriously worried, which Caitlyn just shrugged off and rolled her eyes.

"You're being dramatic, Mitch. Trust me, it'll be fun."

Mitchie sighed in uncertainty. Maybe one night wouldn't hurt...

"Fine. But this is the only time."

Caitlyn squealed excitedly and pulled Mitchie up off the couch by her arm. "Come on, we've got to find something awesome to wear."

* * *

Shane tried the whole sleeping thing, but it wasn't working out to well. He had the most comfortable bed on the planet. He shouldn't have been as restless as he was. He'd fall asleep, and wake back up again half an hour later. Mitchie was haunting all of his dreams. And right when his dreams were getting..._good. _He'd wake up again. It was driving him insane, and he wondered if he was really losing his mind. Why else would Mitchie be constantly on his thoughts.

Finally giving up on sleep, he pushed the covers off of his body and sat on the edge of his bed with his head in a hands. He needed to get out of the damn house. He felt like he was suffocating. He needed a release from all this emotional crap that he had been going through with Mitchie. He needed a way to get rid of all the tension that was driving him crazy.

And he knew just the way he could do it.

Though his management would have his ass if they knew what he had in mind. When this whole fake relationship thing started, he was forced not to see any other girls, and do what he usually did.

What he usually did was go hang out at his favorite club and flirt with hot girls and have a few drinks and just forget about all his problems for awhile. And he knew he'd get in a load of trouble if he was caught with a girl that wasn't Mitchie.

Well fuck them.

Shane Gray could do whatever the hell he wanted to do. And he was going to do just that.

Seeing as he wasn't going to get any sleep anytime soon, he pushed himself off his bed and slung his leather jacket over his shoulders and sauntered out to the garage where he grabbed a random set of keys to one of his many cars and drove straight to his favorite club.

It was just midnight, so the party was just getting started. But he usually ended up staying for several hours anyway. But that meant that there weren't as many paparazzi as there usually was when he showed up later, which was good because that would save his ass later on seeing as there wouldn't be as many pictures of him. And thankfully it was incredibly easy to get into the club. Well, for him anyways. He was Shane Gray after all.

When he got inside there were already people and couples dancing to the beat that was blaring throughout the room. He smirked as his eyes scanned through the crowd of girls, ignoring the ones that were already grinding against some other guy. For now anyways.

He always liked to have a few drinks first before he started to flirt, so he made a beeline for the bar, that already had several people standing or sitting right next to it. He sat down at the first bar stool he could reach and shouted out his favorite drink to the bartender. While he was waiting, he looked around the club a little more, and smirked when he saw a few girls already checking him out. They always did.

When the bartender gave him his drink, Shane wasted no time in taking a swig of it. He sat there, going through a few drinks to get him to that comfortable buzz that he enjoyed so much. Until finally he turned and tried to find a girl that he could make his move on first. He scanned the crowd, trying to find a girl who wasn't grinding up against a different. The last thing he needed was some punk trying to pick a fight with Shane because girls liked him better.

It didn't take him long to find someone who caught his eye. He couldn't see her face, but she was dancing to the music, and Shane was absolutely mesmerized at the way she moved. It was sexy and alluring, and Shane was finding himself seriously turned on. He smirked and gulped down the rest of his drink before getting off the bar stool and making his way towards the girl that he had yet to take his eyes off of. But then she turned around.

"No fucking way." Shane muttered to himself as he glared at the girl who not five seconds ago had him ridiculously turned on.

She was everywhere.

What the hell was Mitchie Torres doing at a club? And what the hell was she doing dancing like she was? And why the hell couldn't Shane get away from her?

Suddenly the buzz from the alcohol was gone as the irritation began to build up. Couldn't he just go a couple of hours without Mitchie doing _something _to him.

Just when he was about to confront Mitchie and demand what the hell she was doing there, he finally noticed that some guy had come up to her and made himself comfortable, dancing, and grinding up against her. Shane felt his stomach churn when he saw that Mitchie was doing _absolutely nothing _about it. He also felt his heart twist as he watched Mitchie dancing like that with some other guy.

He didn't know Mitchie very well, but he knew this was definitely not something she would be into.

Unless he really didn't know her at all.

But this wasn't working for him. At all. There was only one person who should be dancing with her like that.

Shane groaned, wishing that thought wouldn't have crossed his mind at all. He wasn't jealous.

Shane Gray didn't get jealous.

But he wasn't going to stand for her acting like this and possibly getting them both in trouble. With a glare and a scowl, he stalked up to Mitchie and the random creep who had his hands all over Mitchie. Shane didn't waste a minute in shoving the guy off of Mitchie, and taking a hold of her elbow and pulling her out of the crowd, ignoring the creep who was cursing at Shane. Once they were out of the crowd of grinding dancers, Shane finally glanced at Mitchie.

"Mitch--"

"Hi, Shane!" She giggled, and Shane scrunched his nose when he could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"Mitchie, are you _drunk?_" He asked in disbelief, trying to make his voice heard over the blaring bass music. She giggled a little more, leaning against him seeing as she could barely stand up straight.

"Maybe a littleee." She slurred. How she was dancing the way she had been was beyond him. He scowled, because he had no idea what the hell to do with her. He could leave her and not do anything, and one side of his brain was seriously debating doing just that. What the hell should he care? It wasn't his problem. She wasn't his problem. But the other side of his brain was telling him that if he did leave her alone like this, drunk and vulnerable, some other creep wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of her. And that thought nearly made Shane sick.

He sighed trying to figure out what the hell to do, because he had no fucking clue. The alcohol he had drank was now giving him a splitting headache, but that just might have been the confusion he was feeling because of Mitchie.

"Shaneeee, let's dance!" Mitchie grinned and tried tugging at Shane's arm to pull him back to the dance floor, but she could barely move without tripping over herself.

"No, Mitch. I gotta get you home!" He nearly groaned as he thought of leaving when he had just been there for a little over an hour. Mitchie whined comically.

"But I don't _wanna _go home yet, Shane! I'm having so much fun! And did you see how cute that guy was?" She giggled, and Shane felt his heart twist yet again when she mention that.

"I'm taking you home." He told her firmly. He wasn't going to take no for an answer anymore.

"Hey!" Shane groaned out loud when he saw that same creep who was dancing with Mitchie approach them. "Maybe she doesn't want anything to do with you, asshole."

Shane glared fiercely at the guy. "This is none of your business." He snarled, fed up with this whole thing, and now wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of that place. All this was just getting to be too much, and he was sick of it.

"If this pretty girl wants to dance with me, you shouldn't get in the way of that." He sent a wink towards Mitchie, and openly checked her out. Shane was fighting so hard not to punch the guts out of this guy. "So, why don't you go find your own girl."

"She _is_ my girl, asshole!" Shane had no idea why the hell he said what he just did, but the guy backed off a little bit, and that was all Shane wanted, to get away from this dude and this stupid club and just get Mitchie out of there, and try to figure out why the hell he just said what he did.

As the guy saw Shane's intense glare, he shook his head and backed off. While that exchange was happening, Mitchie was giggling and holding on to Shane as to not fall over. Shane glared a little more, scowling to himself before finally pulling Mitchie out of the club. He had his arm wrapped around her waist to help her stand, and nearly groaned when he got out side and saw paparazzi standing out there waiting for them. Thankfully his car was right there and got Mitchie into the passenger seat without too much trouble.

Ignoring the camera's and questions at all cost before getting in the driver side and pulling away from the club and made a beeline for the mansion, seeing as he probably couldn't count on Mitchie giving him directions to her place.

"Shaneee." She whined, pouting. "I wanted to dance some more."

"I don't care." Shane snapped. "You shouldn't have been there in the first place."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "You're not the boss of me."

Shane sighed, anger coursing through him. He had no idea what could have possessed her to make her do something like this. Mitchie struck him as the type of girl to follow the rules. He couldn't see her as the kind of girl who would even get close to a club, let alone get illegaly drunk. Though he had done the same thing when he was underage.

"Why would you even go to a club in the first place, Mitchie?" He demanded. He had to know. He didn't know why he needed to know, but he did.

"It was my friend's idea." She gasped. "Oh, I forgot about Caitlyn!" Then she giggled, her words still slurred. "Oh, yeah, her boyfriend's with her."

Shane sighed, he knew he wasn't going to get another answer out of her until she was sober. He hated having to be patient.

The ride back to the mansion consisted of Mitchie's incessant giggling and slurred words.

He was thankful when he pulled back up to the security of the mansion and was able to get Mitchie out of the car and inside without anyone getting in his way. He knew Nate and Jason would already be asleep by now, they jumped on any chance they got to get some sleep.

He had to practically had to carry her into the house, because she still continued to trip over herself, and he was sure if he made her try to stand by herself she would just end up falling and hurting herself.

But then things got strange when he got her to his bedroom. She was still giggling, but she now had her arms wrapped around his neck, trying to support herself.

"You're so handsome, Shane." She giggled, running her fingers through his hair, and he had to get his self control in check. "Soft hair." She murmured, holding herself closer to him, and it was catching Shane off guard.

"Mitch, I think you should get some s-sleep." He stuttered, feeling totally unlike himself as she pressed herself against him and whispered words into his hear, leaving chills wherever he felt her breath against his skin.

"Mmm, you smell really good, too..." She slurred. "I really, _really_ wanna kiss you..." She grinned her face inches away from his.

Shane gulped. Why was she doing this? Was it just because she was drunk? He didn't know, but it was hard to turn away with her lips so close to his. Even if her breath did smell of alcohol, he could still find traces of the Mitchie he knew, and it was intoxicating him even more than the alcohol did.

"Mitchie--" But he was cut off when he felt her lips placed roughly against his. It was a rough and sloppy kiss, but it still did a good job of knocking Shane off his feet. His tongue tangled with hers as his grip tightened around her waist and her hand fisted in his hair.

But he couldn't help but focusing on the fact that she was _drunk_ and just earlier that night, she was running away from him after he kissed her. But he couldn't help himself. She just tasted so _good_, even with the traces of alcohol, it was still Mitchie.

His mind was so fogged up from the kiss that he barely noticed when she pulled him towards his king size bed and she laid down on it, pulling her on top of him. All the while, not breaking the kiss that was getting more and more heated by she second. Her hands were now roaming over every inch of him, and it was driving him out of his mind as his tongue continued to explore every inch of her mouth he possibly could. But somewhere in the back of his mind, when he felt her hands tug at the hem of his shirt trying to pull it up over his head, he realized that he _shouldn't _be doing this. That if he continued with this he'd be no better than the scumbag who tried to seduce her at the club.

Shane wasn't going to take advantage of Mitchie like that. No matter how bad he wanted it. No matter how bad he wanted _her_.

"Mitchie, stop." He panted after pulling away from her lips, and he had to stop her from trying to pulling his shirt off.

"Shane," Mitchie groaned, not sounding as drunk as she had before. "I want you."

Shane gave into his desires, but he knew he couldn't. Not while Mitchie was drunk. Because he knew in the morning, when she was sober, she would regret it. And that was the last thing he wanted.

"No, Mitchie." He climbed off of her, reluctantly at that, and Mitchie sat up, looking slightly hurt.

"Shane--"

"Mitch, I think you need to get some sleep." He ran a hand through his hair, trying so very hard to get ahold of himself, to not much avail.

Mitchie stared at him for a moment, before nodding her head, seeming a lot more sober than she did when he first got her to the house.

He let her stay in his bed for the night. He didn't mind, he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep anyways. But he'd stay close, because he knew she'd be in for a rough night. He knew he shouldn't care, but he couldn't help himself. When it came to Mitchie, he had no control over what he did, and it was frustrating as hell, but at the same time he didn't mind looking after her. Then he wouldn't have to worry about anyone else hurting her, because he'd be taking care of her.

When she was settled in his bed, Shane sighed as he watched her eyes drift shut, and he felt his heart doing weird things yet again. He didn't know what the hell was going on with him, and he didn't know how the hell to stop it. But maybe, just maybe, he didn't _want_ to stop it.

* * *

**This took me a couple hours to write, but I actually thought it turned out pretty good, not so sure about the ending, but whatever. lol But it's YOUR opinion I wanna hear, so please hit that pretty little review button cuz it would totally make my day. **

**Any ya know what else would make my day? **

**If you followed my new twitter, that's specifically for fanfiction. .com/sk8ergirl244 Pretty pleaseeee??? -smiles- **

**Love you all!  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**This took a little longer to write than what I would have liked. lol First my computer broke for like a day, then I spent the night at my friends house and I just had my iPod, so I finally slowed down when I hurt my foot skateboaring, and I finally started to write, and once I start to write, I don't stop, I just have to get started. And I got some serious inspiration from all the Jemi-ness that's been going on, I was so psyched when they FINALLY admitted their relationship. So here ya go, hope ya like it.**

**And don't forget to follow my twitter!! Seriously, I want all of y'all to go follow me and talk to me!! I like making new friends! And if I get enough followers I'll start sending out spoilers and answering questions and taking requests!**

* * *

Mitchie woke up that next morning or afternoon or...evening or whatever the freaking time was, she didn't really care because at that moment all she could focus on was the throbbing pain she felt in her head and the nausea that was making her groan, seriously uncomfortable. She couldn't even recall where she was, or what happened the previous night to make her feel the way she was.

Then it hit her. Hard.

Caitlyn had dragged her to that club.

Mitchie groaned out loud, though regretted it immensely, when she realized why she felt so horrible.

She was _hungover_.

How could she have done something so completely _stupid?_

She must have made a complete fool out of herself, but she couldn't even remember, and it was frustrating the hell out of her.

What the hell _happened?_

Did Caitlyn take her back to their apartment? That probably wasn't true, because Caitlyn would have been just as drunk as Mitchie apparently had been. So where was she? She felt a flutter of panic when she realized all the possibilities that could have happened to her while she was drunk and completely not herself.

"Mitchie?"

Her eyes snapped open immediately, groaning again at the intense light that greeted her already aching head, when she heard Shane's exhausted voice.

"Are you okay?" He had stayed practically by her side the entire night, because she had been throwing up most of the time and he was somehow determined to take care of her, which was admittedly disgusting, but he wouldn't let her go through that by herself. Every time she had made a sound, he was by her side, just like when he heard her groan a few moments ago.

But Mitchie was left confused at his question. Since when did he care if she was okay or not? Shaking her head, deciding not to question him on it, because she was too exhausted and sick to ask something that would just start and unnecessary fight between them.

"Where am I?"

"You're in my room, at the mansion."

Why was she in his room? Well, it certainly explained why the bed was so damn comfortable. Seriously, only rockstars could afford beds this comfortable, it almost made up for the screeching pain in her skull.

Almost.

"What happened?" She groaned, not able to do much else at the moment, but she needed to know what went down last night and how she ended up with Shane.

"Uh..." He sounded hesitant to tell her and that kind of irritated her. What did he know? She had a feeling something had happened between them from the way he was acting about it, and it really worried her.

"Well, you got drunk..."

She huffed. "Oh, gee I didn't realize that." She snapped. She wasn't used to being so harsh to someone, but it just came out naturally with Shane, and she didn't even have the energy to feel bad about it.

Shane sighed and ran a hand through his hair nervously, almost embarrassed, and Mitchie knew he was _definitely_ keeping something from her. She realized she'd have to drag it out of him later when she was actually up for doing such a thing.

"Look, I'll tell ya later, I think you should get some more rest. I left you some Advil and some water on the nightstand."

And then he left the room in a huff. Mitchie was too nauseous to be confused, so she just swallowed the pills and gulped down the water before forcing her way back to sleep.

* * *

Shane stalked out of his bedroom, shutting the door behind him before pushing his hand through his hair and making his way toward the kitchen. Utterly frustrated, he wondered how he was supposed to tell Mitchie about what had happened the previous night between them. That if he hadn't have stopped himself, they probably would have had sex. He didn't want to tell her what happened because she probably would get pissed at him for just letting it get that far in the first place.

He probably should have just left her alone, and let her do her own thing at the club, but he knew what would have happened if he had left her with that creep who had made his intentions with Mitchie crystal clear, and Shane wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had just let something like that happen to Mitchie. Maybe Mitchie would understand why he had taken Mitchie out of the club, maybe she wouldn't be mad at him.

But it was such an un-Shane like move that she might not even believe him. For all he knew, she might think that he was the one who had tried to take advantage of her, but obviously she didn't remember anything that happened. That was probably for the better. She wouldn't know if he edited part of the story. He was the only one who knew afterall.

But it was always so hard for him to lie to her, and that frustrated the hell out of him. He had never dealt with a girl like Mitchie before, and he never felt so strongly about a girl. He was finding himself falling for Mitchie and it was scaring the shit out of him because he couldn't stop it or control it no matter how much he wanted to. And now he didn't know what the hell to do with himself.

Caught up in his thoughts, he somehow managed to find his way towards the kitchen, where a sleepy looking Nate was cooking something over the stove.

"Morning." Shane muttered, dropping into a chair.

"Hey." Nate greeted, pushing around the scrambled eggs with a spatula. "You want something to eat? I think I made too much." Nate offered.

"Nah. I'm not hungry." Nate looked at Shane oddly, because Shane always took advantage of someone cooking for him, but Shane had lost his appetite with everything that was going on between him and Mitchie. And he was too tired to be hungry. He had stayed up practically all night to take care of Mitchie.

"What's wrong with you?" Leave it to Nate to notice something was wrong. But Shane shouldn't have been surprised, Nate was the most observant one, and he had known Shane long enough to know when something wasn't right. "You look wiped. Is your bed not comfortable enough for you anymore?" He joked, but it made Shane glare at him.

"Actually, Mitchie slept in my bed last night."

Nate dropped the spatula in shock as soon as the words left Shane's mouth.

"What?!" He cried out. "Shane, what did you do?!"

Insulted, Shane glared at Nate. "Not like that, you moron!" Shane huffed. "I found her drunk at this club I went to last night, and I couldn't leave her their by herself." He defended himself.

Nate stared at him strangely. "She was _drunk_?" He asked incredulously.

Shane nodded. "She's hungover in my bedroom right now."

"I can't believe _Mitchie_ got _drunk._ What happened?" There was worry etched in his voice, also wondering what had compelled Mitchie to be so irresponsible.

Shane hesitated telling him what happened, but if there was anyone he could go to it was Nate. He remembered that whenever something big happened, or even something little, he had always gone to Nate first. Nate used to be the one person who he could ask for advice, and not be judged. Shane could barely remember the last time he had talked to Nate about something that was going on in his life, and Shane realized he kinda missed it. Thinking back, Shane realized that the only conversations they really had in the past few years had ended up with them arguing and being mad at each other. Finally, Shane decided to tell Nate every little thing that had happened the previous night. Nate listened and didn't interrupt once, even when Shane mentioned that he nearly did have sex with Mitchie, though he managed to try and hide his surprise and shock. It was relieving to get everything off his chest, and he was glad Nate was taking the time to listen to him.

"And now I don't know what to do." He admitted helplessly.

"What do you think you should do?" Shane sighed, and shrugged.

"I dunno, man. I've already screwed up with her, I don't think we'll ever get past where we're at. She'll always hate me."

Nate shook his head, not believing that for a second. "Shane, trust me, Mitchie's not the type of person to hate someone. It's gotta be hard enough for her to hate you as it is."

But Shane was being his usual stubborn self. How could Mitchie ever stop hating him after the way he had been treating her since they second he first met her? She had every right to absolutely despise him. No matter what these weird feelings he had for her were, he would just have to ignore them and get them out of his system, or else it would drive him absolutely mad.

"No, she's always going to hate me. How could she not? After the way I've treated her?" Shane shook his head, frustrated with himself and everything that was happening. Before Nate could try and convince him of anything, Shane stood up abruptly and practically stomped out of the kitchen, calling to Nate over his shoulder.

"Take care of Mitchie, I'm going out." And then he was gone, leaving Nate utterly confused as to what just happened. Shane had just opened up to Nate for the first time in what had to have been years, and then all of a sudden, he closes himself up and runs away. Nate sighed, running a hand through his curly hair.

* * *

A few hours later, Mitchie woke up yet again, thankfully with just a dulling ache in her head instead of the throbbing pain that she felt earlier. Her stomach felt empty, and she knew she'd have to eat, but she still felt a little nauseous. But it was nowhere near as bad as she had felt earlier, and she was relieved at that. In fact, she felt fine enough to get up and possibly find something to eat in Connect 3's endless mansion.

She pushed the warm covers off her body and slid out onto the cold wood floor before making her way out of her room and followed the smell of something that was cooking in the kitchen. It didn't take her long to find Nate sitting at the kitchen table, apparently waiting for whatever it was he was cooking to finish. When he noticed she had entered the room, he smiled warmly at her.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Mitchie sighed, because it was obvious that Shane hadn't kept his mouth shut about her behavior from the previous night.

"I'm fine. Just completely humiliated." She muttered, dropping into a chair next to the curly haired boy. "Shane told you, right?"

Nate glanced at her sympathetically and nodded his head, and Mitchie let out an embarrassed groan before dropping her head onto the table.

"It's okay, Mitch, everyone makes mistakes."

"Yeah, but can you imagine what would have happened if paparazzi had been there, or if someone had taken a photo and leaked it? What if Shane never dragged me out of that stupid place?" She was getting worked up now, and Nate tried to calm her down.

"Mitchie, calm down. None of that happened, and you're okay, everything's okay. Mistakes happen, the trick is to learn from it."

Mitchie pouted, feeling a little better about it, but still absolutely humiliated that she had put herself in that position in the first place. She was gonna get Caitlyn for this. Mitchie sighed again. Caitlyn. She had no idea what had happened to her.

Mitchie stood, intent on calling her best friend and making sure she was alright, and then totally tell her that she was going to pay for dragging Mitchie to that stupid club. "I'll be back," She told Nate. "I have to go call my friend."

"Alright, but I'm making lunch, and it'll be ready in a few minutes if you're hungry."

Mitchie smiled gratefully at him as she left the room and began her search for her cell phone.

Nate sighed as he watched her walk off. It was such a strange thing to think of Mitchie drunk. It was just wasn't something that went along with how Mitchie was. Sweet, kind, friendly, down-to-earth, beautiful...

Nate frowned. Why was he thinking that? It was obviously true, anyone with eyes would be able to see that Mitchie was all of those things and more. A lot more. It was just that weird sensation he felt when he thought of her, and tingling sensation in his heart was the only way he could explain it. But what could it...

Uh oh.

* * *

Shane didn't know what he was doing, and he had no idea what he planned to do. He just needed to get away from all of his thoughts that were revolving around Mitchie. But damn it, she just wouldn't get out of his fucking head and he didn't know what the hell to do about it.

He had somehow managed to let himself wander out towards his favorite coffee shop. It probably wouldn't clear his head, but at least he had something to do to at least _try_ and distract himself. He walked into the low key coffee shop, and was instantly greeted by the aroma of several different types of coffee and plenty of good things.

Though he liked to sometimes mix it up a little, he just ordered a strong, black coffee. While he was waiting, he grabbed a few dollar bills to pay for the drink, and as soon as he had shoved his wallet back into his back pocket, he felt an unfamilar presence beside him.

"Hey, you're Shany Gray, right?" She had a flirty, sultry voice, and when he turned to look at her, she seemed to be just as hot as she sounded, and out of habit, he felt himself smirk.

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

He wasn't really listening to her after that, he only had one thing on his mind, and that was to get Mitchie off of it, and this girl was willing to whatever the hell Shane wanted. So when she asked him to come back to her apartment, he didn't even hesitate.

* * *

Mitchie felt considerably better after she had eaten Nate's delicious lunch. (Who knew he was so good at cooking?) And she had spent most of the afternoon chatting with him, and just lazing around their mansion. She had called Caitlyn, who had been frantic with worry about what had happened to Mitchie, but after she explained, Caitlyn calmed down, and thankfully promised to keep Mitchie away from the clubs.

But she had a date with her boyfriend, so Mitchie was happy to just hang out with Nate. He was always a great person to be around, he was so nice and caring, and even funny once he warmed up to you. He definitely fell under the category of one of Mitchie's favorite people to hang out with. Jason was also part of that list, but he had been out visiting his family all day.

Spending the day with Nate had pretty much taken her mind off of Shane. She had never gotten the full story on what had happened between them the previous night, and part of her felt like she needed to know, and the other part was scared to find out. Not that it mattered, Shane had apparently left hours ago, and she had no clue when he'd be back. But according to Nate, that was normal behavior for the moody rockstar.

At the moment she and Nate were currently goofing off, and playing silly songs with their guitars, and Mitchie couldn't remember a time where she had felt so carefree. It was so nice to hang out with someone who shared the same passion for music that she did. They had gotten several songs out of their systems just from the both of them hanging out together, and most of them were actually pretty good, whereas the others they were just being silly. They had just finished yet another one when Mitchie began to feel her fingers cramp from playing the guitar so much, and she gingerly placed it on the ground, propped up against the couch she was sitting in Connect 3's music room.

"Okay, we're going to have to play that song at some point, it's so much fun." Mitchie grinned, and Nate nodded his head, agreeing wholeheartedly with her before placing his guitar down as well.

"Definitely, I'll have to talk to Jason about playing a little bit in it too, I'm sure he'll love it."

Mitchie didn't even try and bring up how Shane would react to it.

"So..." Nate trailed off, biting his lip as if he was hesitant to say what he was about to. "So, how are feeling about last night, did Shane tell you what happened?"

Mitchie wasn't aware that Shane had already told Nate _everything_ that happened the previous night.

"Um...no, he didn't. I was irritated with him this morning, and he didn't tell me anything." Mitchie mumbled, the night flooding back to her, and bringing the humiliation back with it. "I think I'm afraid to know. I've never been drunk before, and I don't remember a thing. But apparently he doesn't want to tell me, and I guess I shouldn't expect him too."

Nate sighed, feeling really bad for her and the way Shane had been treating her. He scooted closer to Mitchie on the couch to where they were bumping knees.

"Look, I know he has his issues, a lot of them, but Mitchie I think he really tried to help you last night. I know it doesn't seem like something he would do, but the real Shane is still there, and I think that's the one that helped you last night." Nate told her softly, to which Mitchie just frowned.

"That whole split personality doesn't really work for me."

Nate chuckled softly and nodded his head. "I know. But he's just lost."

Mitchie shrugged, putting off the subject for the moment, missing the fun, playful mood that had surrounded the two just a few moments earlier. When she looked up to say something to Nate, she was surprised to see how close his face was to hers, literally inches away, and her eyes widened instinctively, not expecting that kind of closeness.

"Um...uh..." She stuttered, trying to get her mind around the surprise, but she didn't get the chance to say anything more.

Nate's lips were already pressed against hers.

* * *

**Haha...uhhh. Please don't hate me for doing that to ya. I wasn't sure where this chapter was headed when I first started writing it, and it just came to this...lol I love drama though. To see what happens next, ya gotta hit that pretty little review button. I wanna see if I can make it to the 100th review, because that would seriously make my day and make me that much more excited to write it up.**

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**Love you all!!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Awwwwww!!!! You guys got me OVER a hundred reviews!!! I'm sooo psyched. You guys are sooo awesome!! I can't believe how many reviews I had, it's awesome!!!**

**Anyways, glad y'all liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one too!**

**And if it keeps snowing like it is here, y'all might get a lot of updates in the next couple days lol **

* * *

Shane strolled back to the Connect 3 mansion, feeling pretty damn good about himself. After spending the whole afternoon with that girl he met at the coffee shop, he was pretty sure that his Mitchie problem was gone. He had managed to convince himself that it was just a stupid little crush, that as soon as this fake relationship was over, Mitchie would be out of his life forever, and he wouldn't care. He wouldn't miss all the crap that she had made him feel. Maybe he did like her, and maybe she did make him have a moment where he actually cared about someone other than himself, but he had able to come up with excuses as to why he did that, and that was good enough for him. He liked her, but that was something he could easily get over. And he _would_ get over it. He had better things to do than pine for a girl who hated him.

After tossing his keys onto a nearby table, he shrugged off his leather jacket and dropped it on the back of the couch. He was feeling so good, that he even had inspiration to write a song. With his smirk plastered on his face, he sauntered his way to the music room, which held a variety of his favorite musical instruments, from his person favorite acoustic guitar, to bass guitars, Nate's drum sets, and even a few instruments from their horns and string sections of the band. It was the perfect place for any musician, and Shane could hardly wait to dive into his music.

But he practically scowled when he saw there was a light on from under the door, and he realized he might have to be sharing the room. That thought not sitting well with him, he planned on forcing his way into the room and kicking out whoever the hell was in there. He hardly got any inspiration for a song, and he wasn't going to let this go to waste.

But instead of being able to yell at whoever was there, he was stunned stupid.

Nate and Mitchie.

Kissing.

Each other.

Shane felt utterly sick to his stomach as he watched, horrified, at what was happening in front of him. He felt his heart clench severely as Nate continued to move his lips against Mitchie's. They didn't even know he was standing there!

He wasn't sure if he was going to be absolutely infuriated or just sick.

Not wanting to watch anymore, he staggered out of the room and got as far away from that damn room as he possibly could.

He tried to wrack his brain, wondering how in the hell they would end up kissing. Nate didn't even like Mitchie!

Did he?

He had never said anything about it, but Shane had practically spilled his guts to him that morning about everything that had went down between himself and Mitchie. Nate would have mentioned something about liking Mitchie, wouldn't he?

But Shane didn't care. He had already decided that he didn't care about Mitchie, she could be with whoever the hell she wanted.

But her being with Nate would certainly screw with his plan to never see her again after this fake relationship ended. But he didn't care.

So if he didn't care, why did his heart hurt so bad?

* * *

Mitchie didn't know how the hell Nate's lips ended up on hers. They were laughing, having a good time, and then somehow the conversation turned to Shane, and then the next thing she knew, Nate was kissing her. She was in absolute shock. Even more so than when Shane kissed her! Because then she _knew _that Shane was looking for that, but Nate...she had no idea if Nate felt that way.

Did he even feel that way? Or was he just caught up in the moment and decided to kiss her?

Thoughts were racing at and uncontrollable pace, and she didn't know what the hell to do. Did she liked Nate that way?

She had been so caught up with her..._feelings_...for Shane, or whatever the hell that was with him, that she had never even thought about actually liking anybody. Nate was sweet, and friendly, and of course completely handsome. But so far she had only thought of him like a best friend, or a brother. Never in this sense.

And the last thing, it felt...weird kissing Nate. Like she was kissing a family member or something.

Not like when she was kissing Shane.

Stupid Shane, always had to make her so confused, and now another member of Connect 3 was thrown into the mix. And now her mind was spinning out of control.

Before this kiss could get any further, Mitchie pulled away, trying to hold back her shocked gaping. Nate looked sheepish, but he didn't look like he didn't regret it.

Like he liked it.

Well, crap.

How was Mitchie supposed to tell him that she didn't feel anything? Like kissing him was like kissing his brother? She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea either. It wasn't like she could even think about liking a guy until she sorted out her..._feelings_...for Shane, and who knew when that would be.

"N-Nate..." She stuttered, still not sure on what to say to him. But he seemed to get the message and he sighed and frowned slightly, almost looking like he had been expecting rejection.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He muttered.

"No, Nate..." She struggled for the right words, and the words that would hurt him less. "Wh-Why did you do that?" At least it made her sound less of an idiot, and it gave her time to figure out what she could say to him.

Nate shrugged. "I dunno." He was avoiding her gaze now, and she figured he was must have been embarrassed. "I-I...kinda like...you." He admitted. "But whatever, it's okay if you don't feel the same way..."

Mitchie felt her heart sink at Nate's confession, and she felt like the worst person to ever walk the planet. How could she even think about hurting him? It didn't seem fair. But she didn't like him in that way. But at that moment she kind of wished she did. Nate would be the sweetest boyfriend in the world, she was positive of that, and any girl would be lucky to date Nate. But Mitchie just..._couldn't _like him like that. She couldn't picture dating him, or being with him.

Before she could force any words out of her mouth, Nate's cell phone broke the tense silence, making them both jump. Nate sighed, and reluctantly fished his phone out of his pocket and looked to see who was calling him and frowned at what he saw.

"Sorry, I gotta take this. I guess we'll talk later."

Mitchie simply nodded as she watched him answer his phone and left the room. She knew they would have to talk about it soon, but she really didn't want to break his heart. But what else could she do? She couldn't lead him on, and pretend to like him, that would just break his heart even more if he found out.

Sighing, she left the room, feeling too stressed to write her music, and she headed towards the kitchen to grab some water, to attempt to get rid of some of the tension that she felt building up in her head, the last thing she needed was a headache. But before she could make it to the end of the hallway, she felt a hand grab her arm, and she was being tugged forcefully into Shane's room with a gasp.

"Shane!" She cried, shocked. He slammed the door to his room and turned to glare at her, though she didn't know why, she had barely seen him that day, she had no idea what she could have possible done to make him angry at her. Of course it was Shane, her just breathing probably would have pissed him off. But he was _really_ angry. Angrier than Mithie had ever seen him, which was surprising, and slightly frightening. But what was surprising her the most was that it looked like _hurt_ hiding within the several emotions swiming through his eyes.

"Shane, what the hell are you doing?" She demanded, no matter what he was feeling, it was rude to just forcefully drag a person into a room and be angry at them for no apparent reason.

But then again, it was Shane Gray here.

"Me? What the hell were _you_ doing?" He shot back, his voice sharp with anger and frustration, but Mitchie scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" She defended herself.

Shane scoffed bitterly. He didn't know what had compelled him to actually confront Mitchie about this, but he just couldn't stand the thought of having to see her with Nate all the time. Especially because she was supposed to be in a relationship with him, even though it was fake, what would the rest of the world think? But he could use that excuse all he wanted, in the end he knew it wasn't how he really felt.

"Oh yeah? So what was that thing you were doing with _Nate_?" He spat, making Mitchie's eyes widen in shock.

"W-What are you talking about?" She tried to play it off, but Shane wasn't buying it, her lying just made him glare at her even harder.

"You know what I'm talking about." He hissed through gritted teeth. "Why the hell were you kissing him?!"

"Why the hell do you care!?" Why _did_ he care? She was just his stupid fake girlfriend that would be out of his life whenever they could finally quit this fake relationship. But he seemed to be really bothered by this, and Mitchie couldn't put her finger on why.

"Because. _I'm_ the only guy you should be kissing." He said, a lot softer than his last words, almost as if he was scared to say them, and Mitchie could hardly believe her ears. He left her confused, but he didn't give her a chance to respond when she felt his lips on hers, and she didn't even try to fight him off, instead she welcomed the soft feel of his lips against hers and she immediately wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling herself as close to him as possible.

She didn't know why she was kissing him back. Maybe because after kissing Nate, kissing Shane felt so ridiculously _good._ Kissing Shane was nothing like kissing Nate. She felt warm and completely turned on, and she felt fire wherever his fingers grazed. His hair felt like velvet through her fingers, and his body pressed tightly against hers was absolutely mesmerizing.

His words had shocked her, but they also gave her that warm, tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach, and they just sounded so right coming from his mouth, and just the thought of kissing only Shane made her kiss him even harder.

In response, Shane's arms tightened firmly around her waist, pressing her completely up against his body while his mouth worked furiously against hers. He thought he had managed to get over this damn crush on Mitchie, but apparently he was wrong. It took him seeing that one damn kiss between her and Nate for him to figure out that he...

Ugh.

_Cared_ about her.

He had never really cared about a girl before. Not in this sense, not in the sense that he wanted to be the only guy to ever kiss her like this, to ever feel her body flush up against his. And he didn't know what the hell to do about that.

How could he have come to this? To actually care about a girl like Mitchie? It was infuriating. He had promised himself that he would never fall for a girl, especially one as feisty as Mitchie could be.

He was definitely in trouble, because guys like him didn't fall for girls_ at all_. But here he was. And at that moment, he didn't care about any other damn thing. All he cared about was kissing Mitchie senseless, and that's exactly what he was doing.

And exactly what she was doing to him as well. And she was the only girl who was able to do that to him.

His hands roamed over every inch of her body they could reach, holding her as close to him as possible, moaning slightly as she tugged at his hair and their tongues meshed and slid against each other, and it was driving him absolutely insane. He wanted her so much.

This was different from the last time they were in this position. For one, she wasn't drunk, and Shane had no intentions of stopping what they were doing.

Obviously, Mitchie didn't share his intentions.

"Shane, wait..." She panted after she had managed to force her lips away from his, but his lips simply continued their quest down to her neck where he sucked and nipped viciously, making it severely hard for Mitchie to think straight. "Shane, stop." She said a little more forcefully, though very reluctantly. When Shane didn't give in, she pulled at his hair to move his head to where they were face to face again. "Shane." She huffed, trying to catch her breath.

"What?" He muttered breathlessly, but still attempted to reattach his lips back to hers.

"I think we need to talk." She muttered back, turning her face so his lips wouldn't find hers and make her completely lose her train of thought again.

He sighed in aggravation and finally stopped trying to capture her lips with his own again, but his hold on her didn't let up, which was fine with Mitchie, because hers didn't either. "Talk about what?"

"About what the hell is happening between us, Shane!" She cried. "This thing, whatever the hell it is! About why you were apparently so jealous when you saw Nate and I."

Shane's eyes darkened into a glare. "I wasn't jealous."

Mitchie scoffed. "Oh, please, Shane, then why were you so pissed about it?" She challenged.

"Because, like I said. _I'm_ the only person you should be kissing. What if the press saw you and him? Then that would screw this fake dating thing over!"

Mitchie pulled away from him abruptly. "Is that all you can think about right now?! The damn press and what they'll think of you!? I'm not talking about them, Shane! I'm talking about us! Why are you so determined to keep me away from other guys?!" After her rant, her voice finally softened. "Is it really just because of the press? Or is it-"

"Do you ever," He cut her off sharply. "...just shut up?"

Before she could say anything else, Shane's arms were wrapped around her again and his lips were firmly against hers once again. But before she could dive into it like she had before, Shane pulled back and glared at her.

"We can talk in the morning."

* * *

**Okay, soooooo. I dunno about this chap lol I was kinda sleepy when I wrote it, but I had to get it out of my system. It seemed kind of short to me, sorry bout that, but I'll try to do better on the next one. **

**But I hope y'all like it anywayyssss.**

**Don't forget to leave me a review, because those are awesome and totally make me super happy!!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hi my fellow readers!! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I got a lot of great reviews, which of course made me so happy, you guys are so awesome!! But for some reason my email wasn't sending all the reviews, so I only got to see SOME of your reviews through my email, which kind of irritated me lol. But I did check and looked at all the reviews, and I just want to say thank you for the awesome feedback, all of y'all seriously rock! And I hope you keep reviewing, because makes me super happy, and totally makes me want to write more for you! So please, keep telling me your opinions on what you think, don't be shy, I love reading what you have to say, and it really makes me want to write more, it really does. **

**Anyways, I have to give out a warning for this chap, it's heading into the M zone, so for those of you uncomfortable with that, here's your warning, but it's not bad, I promise.**

**So that's it for this AN, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and the rest of the story, I have big plans for it, but I do want to know what you guys want to see, it really helps move the writing process along because like every writer, I do get stuck sometimes, and your opinions really help with that, so please review! And to all that do review, thank you so much, you're all amazing!!**

* * *

Nate was nothing short of a nervous wreck after that phone call interrupted the conversation between him and Mitchie. He had just spilled his guts to her that he liked her, and he didn't get the chance to hear what she had to say. But he was slightly relieved, because he was fairly scared of what she would have to say about it. Maybe she didn't like him. It wouldn't surprise him, but they had gotten along really well, and even though he had known her for not too long, he considered her one of his closest friends.

_Friends._

The word made him cringe, because these sudden feelings for Mitchie made him want more than friendship with her. But he didn't know if he was ever going to get that. And it was driving him crazy, because he had never been so forward with a girl before. He had girlfriends, but he had never been bold enough to kiss them before they were dating. Relationships were something he took very seriously. A girl should be treated like a princess, and he wanted to make them feel special. But he had never found the _right_ girl.

Until Mitchie.

And he wasn't sure what to think about that. She seemed so perfect, though naturally she had flaws like everyone else, but that's what made her so real too. She was just a girl, who was following her dreams by just being herself, and that's one of the things that Nate like about her so much. She was the type of girl that wouldn't let fame get to her head. She was really in it for the music, and she wasn't like Connect 3 had been, she would refuse to play anything that wasn't her music, and that was a really admirable quality. Because he knew she was the type of her person who didn't care about the fame, and instead cared about getting her music heard, and inspiring people.

But somehow, he could sense that she didn't feel the same way as him, and that was because of one person.

Shane Gray.

Mitchie may say that she hates Shane, and maybe a part of her really does, but there really is an undeniable attraction between the two of them and that really sucked for Nate. But as much as he hated to admit it, maybe she was good for Shane. Opposites attract, right? But before Shane turned into this ego maniac, he and Mitchie probably wouldn't have been opposites. But maybe Mitchie could help bring him back to that. Ever since Mitchie came along, Nate had been seeing bits and pieces of his best friend shining through his rock star alter ego.

But Nate just couldn't help his feelings, and he wished he could, because how could Mitchie possible feel like that towards Nate? They were just friends, and he wasn't afraid to admit that it hurt to know that.

Sighing as he sulked into the couch, staring at the blank TV screen in front of him, frustrated with himself and his thoughts.

"Are you having a staring contest with yourself in the TV screen? Because I've done that before, and it's _really_ hard."

Nate practically jumped when he heard the sound of his best friends voice abruptly break him from his thoughts.

"Jason! When did you get in?"

"Just a few seconds ago? So what were you doing?" The older boy asked with genuine curiosity.

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Nate sighed. "About Mitchie."

"Mitchie? Why were you thinking about Mitchie?"

"Because I like her."

Jason scrunched his eyebrows, confused. "So? I like her too."

Nate sighed and shook his head. "Not like that, Jay. I mean, I _like_ her."

Jason still didn't seem to understand. "I know that. We all like her. Well, except maybe Shane, but I don't think he likes anybody..."

"I meant I have a crush on her, Jase!"

"Well, I have a--oh wait. Did you just say you have a crush on her?" Jason asked, caught off guard by Nate's words.

"Yeah, that's what I said." He mumbled, dejected.

Jason, still confused, sat down next to his best friend. "So why do you look so sad about it?"

It didn't take long before Nate opened up to Jason about his feelings, and his thoughts, and why he knew Mitchie couldn't like him. Jason may be an airhead, but he was a really good listener, and that was one of Nate's favorite qualities about his best friend.

"So...you like her, but you're not gonna do anything about it?"

"I told her I liked her, Jase. But we were interrupted, and I didn't get to hear what she had to say. And I just have a feeling that she doesn't think of me that way."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because, you didn't see her face after I kissed her--"

"You kissed her?!" Jason asked, astonished.

"Yeah. And the bad thing is I felt something. But I don't think that she did. She really looked like she was about reject me, and I could feel it coming. And maybe I'm glad that we got interrupted, it saved me from knowing how she truly felt, or _doesn't _feel."

"You are gonna have to talk to her about it though, I know you. You won't be able to let this go." Jason pointed out. "And you never know, you may be under the wrong impression. Maybe she does like you, and you were just reading her expression wrong."

Nate considered that for a moment, but ended up just shrugging his shoulders, still uncertain. "I just don't know, man. But thanks for listening, I feel a little better getting that off my chest. But I think I'm just gonna crash now. Thanks again."

"Sure, no problem." Jason told him, as he watched as Nate pushed himself off the couch and headed towards the direction of his bedroom.

"Ooh! Shiny!"

* * *

All the while Nate and Jason were having their conversation, Shane and Mitchie were completely oblivious to the outside world, caught up in only each other and the way their lips were tangling together and the way their were roaming desperately over each others bodies. Shane's lungs screamed desperately for air, but he was too caught up in everything that was Mitchie Torres to even begin to care. The way her tongue slid against his, and the way her hands moved from his hair, to his cheek, down his arms and back up again, repeating the process over and over again, and he didn't think he would ever get tired of it.

He was craving every inch of her body. He wanted to put his hands and his mouth all over her. He wanted to touch her in ways no other person had before, and he wanted to make her scream his name. All in all he just wanted _her._ He had never physically ached to have a girl before in his life, but he was discovering a lot of things in the time he knew Mitchie Torres.

He may have been fairly confused about how he felt for her, there was part of him that still couldn't stand her, but the other part of him cared so much about her that it was absolutely ridiculous. His heart skipped a beat whenever he kissed her, though he would never be caught dead admitting that to anyone, but he couldn't deny it, because it was true, and it had been true since the day he first met her.

After a few more minutes of their heated kiss, Mitchie finally broke away, gasping, gulping in the much needed air that her lungs begged for, as Shane, also breathless, moved his lips over any skin of hers he could reach. Her fingers curled desperately in his thick hair as she tried to find her voice. "Shane..." She gasped as he bit down on a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. "...bed..." She moaned, trying to get her point across, and even though he was hardly paying any attention, not being able to focus on anything but her, he managed to understand what she was trying to say, and he didn't waste anytime in dragging her to his bed, pushing her on top of it and climbing on top of her. He immediately resumed what his lips were doing just a few seconds ago, and this time Mitchie tilted her head to give him more access, which he gladly took advantage of.

When his lips started going lower, he growled quietly when he ran into the collar of her shirt, and without any hesitation, he began tugging at the material of her shirt, and she didn't stop him when he pulled it over her head and tossed it randomly over his shoulder before placing his lips back onto her skin.

Mitchie moaned, and immediately felt herself arching into him, her hand grasped desperately for the back of his head, making sure to keep him where he was, and letting him continue doing what he was apparently _so good_ at doing.

But she was craving for more. So much more. She tugged at his hair and brought him back up to her lips, where he happily obliged to heatedly kissing her once again. This time it was her turn to find the edge of his shirt and pull it over his head, breaking the kiss for mere seconds.

She didn't waste a second in letting her hands wander Shane's bare skin, over all of his muscles, and every inch of smooth skin she could possible touch while her tongue continued its desperate battle with his.

Shane moaned at the feel of her hands gliding against his skin, leaving what seemed like a trail of fire wherever they roamed, and it felt so damn good that he didn't want to stop. He couldn't stop now, he was too far gone.

But as the rest of their clothes began to get discarded, Mitchie couldn't help her mind from wandering, and she didn't know how it was possible with the way Shane was kissing her and touching her. But she felt her nerves and fears build up as they got closer and closer to being together the way she had been craving.

The way Shane had always wanted to have her.

Since he first met her.

And that's when Mitchie began to get really scared. Was he just using her to get what he wanted? What would happen after they did have sex? Would that be it? Shane would get what he wanted and forget all about her? She was so scared of that, and she didn't just want to be some girl he could go to whenever he needed sex. It should be something special shared between two people, not just a hobby.

Reluctantly, she tore her lips away from Shane's, terrified that all her worries would end up coming true, and this would be the biggest mistake of her life. She didn't want that to be true, but it was Shane Gray, it was a definite possibility, and she was scared to death of that.

"Shane, wait. Please." She gasped slightly, as his lips worked once again at her neck. "Shane, stop."

He immediately stopped when he heard the tears in her voice. She hadn't even realized she had been crying until she felt the moisture slipping down her cheeks.

Shane's head shot up, and he glanced at her worriedly. "What's wrong?" He asked, alarmed how they could go to what they had just been doing to her crying.

"I'm scared." She admitted, gazing up at him nervously, whereas he was confused by her statement.

"Scared of what?" He whispered, fairly nervous about what she was about to tell him.

"Scared that this will mean nothing." Shane's eyes widened slightly, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I just don't want to do this only for you to get what you wanted and then not care about it when we wake up." She told him fearfully.

Shane looked at her, fairly shocked at why she was so scared. It was true, he had wanted her the first time he met her, and it was also true that he only agreed to this publicity relationship because he wanted the sex. But things changed. And suddenly he found himself caring so much about Mitchie, that if they did sleep together, it would be impossible for him to possibly forget about it.

"That's not gonna happen." He told her sincerely, and he really did mean it. He may still have a few hard feelings for Mitchie, but the part that cared for her was slowly starting to overshadow that, and that was what made him so sure that he would never forget this moment. "I promise."

"How are you so sure?" She was still uncertain, even though she could clearly hear the sincerity in his voice, which slightly confused her, because this was a whole different side of Shane that she had never seen before.

"Because things are different." He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"You promise you'll be here in the morning?"

"I promise." Then he smiled, and it caught Mitchie off guard. She had never seen him smile like that before. Especially at her. It really reassured her that he was telling her the truth, she could see it in his eyes as well, and it made her heart melt. "We still got some talking to do." He told her with a sparkle in his eyes.

It was enough for Mitchie to kiss him again, softly at first, but then she couldn't seem to control her desires for very much longer and it soon became heated and intense. It didn't take long for all the rest of their remaining clothes to be ripped off their bodies, and before she had time to process anything, Shane Gray was inside of her. Moving inside of her, touching her in ways she could never imagine being touched.

Mitchie wasn't a virgin, like most people thought she was, but this felt like the first time she had ever been touched, ever been so close to someone. She felt the most amazing of sensations, and she couldn't help but to cling desperately to the moment, never wanting to let it go, never wanting to let go of the closeness that she felt with Shane at the moment. Her heart was racing as he pumped into her and kiss her, and touched her in the most amazing of places. She moaned out his name, and he did the same with hers.

He had never felt such pleasure in his whole life. Being inside of Mitchie was one of the most perfect things he had ever felt, and it caught him off guard just how amazing he felt. Her hands were roaming all over his body, desperately clinging to him, while his hands had a firm grip on her hips as he rocked into her, his pace increasing with every moan that escaped from her lips.

It didn't last nearly as long as either of them had hoped it would, and when they had both reached their climax, Shane collapsed on top of her. Mitchie didn't mind the weight in the least bit. In fact, she craved it. She craved him, and her craving had been immensely satisfied.

They were both panting, sweat glistening off their bodies as they stared intensely into each others eyes for several moments.

Finally, Shane closed his eyes, as Mitchie comfortingly ran a hand through his hair that was damp with sweat. And after what seemed like several minutes, Shane reluctantly climbed off of Mitchie, but immediately pulled her into his arms as soon as he was laying down.

She rested her head on his sweaty chest as his arms were carefully wrapped around her waist, holding her as close to him as physically possible.

No words were spoken between them, the moment was too perfect to be interrupted with words. They would talk in the morning. Shane's words were enough reassurance to let her close her eyes, and drift off to sleep, thoroughly exhausted.

But both of them fell asleep, not positive on what would happen between them the next morning. But at the moment, everything was forgotten. Mitchie hadn't thought about what had transpired between Nate, and the only thing Shane was thinking of was Mitchie. And he was perfectly content with that.

* * *

**Okay, there ya have it! It was kind of the first time I've written a sex scene, so I'm hoping it's not too terrible. lol But this was kind of an easy chapter to write for some reason, and I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope y'all enjoyed reading it!**

**If you did enjoy it, please tell me!**

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**And also, to all the people who favorite and alert me, thank you so much for that too! I appreciate everyone who even reads my stories, so thank you so much, I really hope you liked this one, and another should follow in the next few days!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Holy moly!! I got like 11 reviews on the first night, that's awesome, and completely exciting for me! lol And I checked the traffic and had like 116 hits, that's incredible!!! Thanks for all the reviews guys, they're absolutely incredible. Some of y'all might be wondering how I'm able to update so much recently, and I swear it's because you all give me tons of inspiration, so keep those reviews coming, cuz the more I get, the more psyched I am, and the more I write. lol So please please pleaseeeeee review, I beg of you!! lol jk, but seriously, I love seeing reviews, it makes me so excited to see that y'all really like my story. **

**Anyways, on to the new chapter!! Hope ya like it.**

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The morning sunlight shone brightly through Shane's uncovered window, and hit Mitchie directly in the face, causing her to stir. At first she had no idea where she was, but then she felt the tangible feeling of Shane's arms wrapped around her bare waste, and she could feel almost every inch of his front pressed against her back, and for some reason she absolutely loved the feel of him pressed up against her, with his steady breath blowing softly against the back of her neck, telling her he was still asleep.

But he was there.

Just like he promised he would be.

As she thought back to the previous night between them, she surprisingly didn't have any regrets, like she originally thought she might. She had sworn to herself to never have sex with Shane Gray, but she didn't care. She _wanted_ last night to happen, she had just been lying to herself when she told herself that she could never want something like that with a guy like Shane.

It had oddly enough been one of the most amazing experiences of her short life, and it was more than likely something she would never take back. He had been so caring and gentle with her, and it was something she definitely did not expect from him, but she enjoyed it thoroughly. It had left her craving for more of him, but just that one time had completely exhausted her. Her emotions had been on overdrive for nearly that entire day. With her waking up the previous morning hungover, the drama with Shane, and then what happened with Nate...

She immediately sighed at the thought of him.

Nate.

She had no choice but to break his heart now, and that nearly killed her, because the last thing she wanted to do was break one of her best friends hearts. After her night with Shane, she couldn't pretend to string him along, now that she would in the first place, that was just too cruel.

But she wasn't even sure what was going to happen with her and Shane when he woke up. Sure he was sweet and caring last night, but a person can't change overnight. It's just not possible, especially because Shane had been so mean and bitter for the better part of two years. But part of her wanted to believe that he could change. She had never actually seen the real him until last night. At least she hoped it was the real him, because it certainly wasn't bad.

How could she have gotten herself in this position? One member of Connect 3 liked her, while she slowly found herself falling for another guy who she honestly shouldn't be falling for. It was such a twisted situation, but at the moment, wrapped up in Shane's arms, her life felt absolutely perfect.

And that scared her. Especially because it was _Shane Gray_ of all people, and he had possibly the worst track record with girls.

But she was finding it exceedingly hard to focus on the negative when she felt him stir next to her, and she heard him taking a deep breath, which told her that he was beginning to wake as well, and suddenly she was nervous.

Nervous that the arrogant, cocky Shane would creep back in and she'd get an earful of that. But instead, she felt his lips greet her bare shoulder gently, slowly making their way up towards her neck. What really pleased her was that she could feel his lips turned up into a smile, and suddenly all of her worries melted away when she heard his voice, thick with sleep.

"Morning." He murmured, nuzzling his nose against her hair, which made her melt. She shifted in his arms slightly so she could see his face, with difficulty because he was refusing to let up his grip on her, but she wasn't exactly complaining about that.

"Morning." She whispered back with a soft smile, which was returned by Shane, and after a few moments of comfortable silence, Shane leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, which made Mitchie melt all over again. It was a slow, lazy kiss, their tongues simply exploring each others mouths instead of fighting for dominance. Mitchie's hand had made its way up to Shane's thick, messy hair and was merely playing happily with a few locks.

Mitchie let out a content sigh when they pulled away because of lack of oxygen, but it didn't bother her. Shane's kisses were so addictive, she could kiss him all day, and probably would if she was actually able to.

"You're still here." She pointed out, pleased with the fact. It was his house, but it had crossed her mind that he'd want nothing to do with her after he got what he wanted, or they'd at least go back to how they were in the first place, which she truly didn't want. It was exhausting hating someone as much as she thought she had hated Shane.

"I told you I would be." And he had kept his word, another sign that told her the real Shane was still in there somewhere, and she was happy to see that it was actually coming to the surface.

They were quiet for awhile, just enjoying each others company, and reveling in the feel of the atmosphere that surrounded them. But unfortunately, Mitchie knew they were going to have to discuss what was going on between them, because she sure as hell didn't know. And as much as she didn't want to break the atmosphere that they were in, this discussion was unavoidable.

"So where does this leave us, Shane?" She wondered to him, feeling the worry kick in on what his answer might be.

"I-I'm not sure." He told her uncertainly. This was completely new to him. He had never really talked to a girl after having sex with him, but he couldn't imagine leaving Mitchie after what they had done the previous night, it seemed nearly impossible, because just the thought of it hurt him. The thought of her hurting, killed him, and he didn't understand why. Or maybe he did, and he just didn't want to admit it.

"After the way things started out between us, I should be saying that last night was a mistake, and that it should never happen again."

He felt his heart clench at the thought. "Are you saying that?"

She thought for a moment. "As much as I _should_ be saying that, I can't. Because I'd be lying. Last night had to have meant something, Shane. And I don't know what the hell it is, but it _did_ mean something. And I'm terrified at the thought of what will come out of this, that you'll still be the arrogant jackass that you were when I first met you."

"Maybe I'm not the same guy I was a month ago." He told her, but she just responded by giving him a look.

"Shane, someone can't change overnight. After being someone else for so long, it's impossible. I've disliked you since the moment I met you, and I'm not sure I can get over that overnight either."

"I wanna be with you, Mitchie." He blurted out before he had any idea what he was going to say, and he watched with a sinking heart as her eyes widened in shock, but he made sure to keep his expression the same, because as much as it scared the hell out of him, it was true.

"Shane..." She began after a moment of shocked silence. "I can't be with someone like the guy I met a month ago."

"I told you. I'm not the guy you met a month ago." Was she going to reject him? After she had been the one so worked up about _him_ ditching her after they slept together, was she the one that was going to reject him? Just the thought made his heart hurt.

"How do I know that you're not?" She asked him, worriedly.

"Let me prove it to you. Just be with me, and I can prove it to you." He pleaded, his voice getting stronger. He had never practically begged for a girl. He had never been able to see him doing such a thing, but this was far past just wanting to be with Mitchie. He _needed_ her.

"Shane, I can't...commit to this. Not yet. We can give it time, okay? We'll see what happens."

It would have to do. For now.

"Okay." He agreed.

"But...in the meantime..." A smirk grew on her lips. "We can do this..." She leaned in closer to him and placed her lips against his, to which a smile formed on his lips and he happily pulled her closer to him.

The meantime might not be so bad.

* * *

Eventually they did have to get out of bed, no matter how reluctant they both were to do so. Shane had gone to take a shower while Mitchie had gotten dressed and made her way to where she would be able to find the other members of Connect 3. Even if she was scared to death at the thought of facing Nate. She still had to talk about the kiss that they had shared, but she was terrified of hurting the man that had slowly began to be like her brother. She would have too though, especially now that she was sort of, kind of dating Shane, which that thought still gave her pleasurable chills. But she wouldn't be able to avoid Nate forever, and she didn't get the chance to even try when she caught him fixing a bowl of cereal in the kitchen.

When he heard her enter the room, he looked up at her and beamed, genuinely happy to see her.

"Hey," He greeted, getting a spoon for himself to dig into his cereal with. "What are you doing here so early?"

She felt a twinge of panic when she realized that Shane was the only one who knew she had stayed the night, and she didn't know what to say, but she knew if she lied she'd get caught up in it, but she didn't have to tell him the _whole_ truth just yet.

"Oh, um, I totally crashed her last night, I was real tired."

He scrunched his eyebrows, but accepted her answer, much to Mitchie's relief. "Oh. So, you want something to eat, we got plenty. Or I can make you something if you want." He offered eagerly, and it felt awkward trying to be normal with him, due to the pending conversation.

"N-No, thanks, I'm fine." Her nerves were so intense that she couldn't even think about food at the moment.

Nate eyed her carefully, sensing something was up with her. "Are you okay?" He finally questioned, and she inwardly winced, knowing now had to be the time, or she'd never be able to do it.

"Look, Nate...we need to talk about...what happened with us yesterday."

After a moment, Nate nodded his head, anticipating that she would say that.

Mitchie thought that she would be the one that would have to start, but to her surprise, Nate began speaking up.

"Mitch, look, I know it might not have been the best thing to do at the time, given the circumstances with your publicity stunt with Shane..." She inwardly cringed. "But I thought about this a lot last night, and I wish I would have known you were here, but I do think that maybe we should give this a shot." Mitchie felt the guilt eating away at her. "I really like you, Mitchie."

And he looked at her with the most sincere eyes, and it completely broke her heart just knowing that she'd have to break his.

"Nate--" But before she could get anywhere, Nate cut her off again.

"Wait, Mitch, just hear me out." She closed her mouth and nodded his head. "I know you thinnk of me as a...brother," He had trouble getting the word out. "But I think that if you just gave me a chance, maybe you'd see that it wouldn't be the case." Nate looked at her pleadingly.

Great. Two guys who were practically begging for her to be with them. She never thought she'd see the day. Especially when those two guys were Nate Johnson and Shane Gray. This was ridiculous.

"Mitchie, please. Just give me two weeks, and if you still don't feel the same, then we won't do it anymore, but please just give me a chance." He pleaded once more, standing up and getting close to her, hoping she'd be able to tell how much he really wanted this.

Where had she just heard the whole giving him a chance thing?

Oh, goodness.

That's how Shane saw them when he managed to get in seeing distance. He could see the pleading look in Nate's eyes, and Shane immediately knew what was happening even though he couldn't hear what they were saying.

Nate _did _like her, and now he wanted to be with Mitchie.

He scowled at the mere thought, and stalked up to them, and he could see the irritation flicker in Nate's eyes when he interrupted whatever the hell Mitchie was about to say to him next.

"What's going on?" Shane asked, as if he hadn't known what was going down between them.

Nate managed a small glare at him, thinking that he might actually have had a chance with Mitchie, and Shane just ruined it.

Shane smirked at that. In all reality, Shane was just saving him from the rejection that he was sure Mitchie would have thrown at him. After what had happened between him and Mitchie just over an hour ago, she better have been getting ready to reject Nate.

"Mitchie and I were just talking." Nate said, still glaring at Shane, who honestly didn't seem to care.

"About what?" Shane pressed, getting amusement out of Nate thinking that he actually stood a chance with Mitchie.

"It's none of your business, Shane." Nate snapped, obviously getting more irritated by the second, all he wanted was to hear what Mitchie had to say, and Shane was making that damn near impossible.

"Oh, really?" Shane questioned. "Because it looks like you were just asking her out." Shane glared back when Nate's got more infuriated.

"It's none of your business!" Nate told him, more forcefully, having never been as irritated with Shane as he was at that very moment.

"So you _were _asking her out." Shane smirked.

"Shane--" Mitchie tried to interrupt, panicking at where Shane was taking this.

"What's it to you?" Nate glared more fiercely, whereas now Shane's smirk broadened.

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late, my friend." Shane raised his eyebrows in a mocking way as Nate became confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Shane!" Mitchie tried to stop him, but to no avail, Shane was obviously having too much fun with this. He had already wrapped his arm around Mitchie and pulled her body up against his, where, much to Nate's dismay, didn't pull away from him, and his glance turned to one of shock and hurt.

"You stayed the night...with Shane, didn't you?" Nate quietly accused Mitchie, who looked absolutely guilt stricken, but it was nothing compared to the hurt and betrayal that was lingering in Nate's eyes.

"Nate--"

Nate shook his head, stopping her. "I should have known." He whispered, before making his way past them and towards his own room.

Shane scoffed, amused, whereas Mitchie...was not.

She turned on Shane and wasted no time in smacking him on the arm. "Shane!" She cried out, shocked that Shane would be so mean to they guy that was supposed to be his best friend.

"What?!" He demanded, clutching at his now sore shoulder.

"How could you do that to him?!" She demanded. "He's supposed to be your best friend! How could you hurt him like that?"

"Come on, Mitch, he was gonna get hurt anyways!" He defended.

"Not like that, Shane! I was gonna tell him, and you only made it worse on him! He's your best friend, Shane, how could you do that?"

Shane sighed, and shrugged. "I'm sorry okay, it just pissed me off that he actually thought he had a chance with you."

Mitchie scoffed and shook her head. "That's not an excuse Shane, there's a mature way of dealing with things, and that was not it."

Shane huffed in exasperation. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Apologize to him!" Shane's eyes widened at the thought, and he immediately shook his head. "Shane, you need to do it! Or else things between you and him are just going to get worse!"

"Me making an idiot out of myself is not going to help anything."

"Shane, you're being ridiculous, and it's really pissing me off. You told me you'd try and change, and this is where you can start."

Shane scowled, but couldn't come up with a response to that. So he reluctantly agreed to..._apologize,_ and he made his way towards Nate's room where he entered without even knocking, and wasn't surprised to find Nate with his guitar.

Nate glared up at him when he noticed Shane. "What do you want?"

Shane sighed, irritation creeping up his spine, but for Mitchie's sake he tried to push it back and just get the damn moment over with.

"I wanted to say that I'm..." He cringed. "..._sorry_."

Nate glared at him. "Not accepted. Leave."

Shane looked at him shocked. He had just freaking apologized! For the first time in like, three years, and that's what he got?

"Dude, I just apologized to you, and you're going to give me that?!"

Nate, utterly pissed off, shoved his guitar to the ground and got to his feet, his intense glare set solely on Shane.

"Of course I'm not gonna accept your stupid apology, that I'm sure you don't even mean in the first place! Damn it, Shane, you don't deserve Mitchie! I don't even know how you managed to get her to actually date you in the first place!"

"Maybe she _wants_ to be with me!" He defended himself, his voice rising along with his ever popular temper.

Nate scoffed. "Give me a break, Shane. She couldn't stand you when she first met you, and you couldn't stand her, I'd give your stupid relationship with her a day, maybe two, giving you the benefit of the doubt. Because that's how everything is with you and girls Shane, you sleep with them, and then you dump them, if not the other way around!"

Shane wasn't sure if Nate was actually meaning what he was saying, or if he was just severely hurt and pissed off, but it was sure getting to Shane, and he felt himself clench his fists.

"Those other girls weren't Mitchie." He spat through gritted teeth. Nate scoffed again and shook his head.

"You know you're gonna hurt her, Shane. You're gonna break her heart, and I need to save her from that. I won't let you hurt her."

"What are you saying?" Shane glared.

"I'm saying, that I'm better for her than you are. I won't hurt her, I won't break her heart, and I won't sleep with other girls while I'm with her."

Shane felt utterly insulted. He wouldn't do any of that to Mitchie either, not intentionally anyways.

"I won't hurt her." He glared harder when Nate shook his head. "I won't."

"We'll see. You don't deserve this chance she's giving you, Shane. But I know you'll screw it up, just like you've screwed up everything else!"

Shane was seriously on the verge of losing his temper. "Then you obviously don't me as well as you thought you did, because I _won't_ screw this up. Do you think, that if she wanted to actually be with, she would have told you. She was going to reject you, Nate. And you know it. And you're just jealous, because I get to be with her, and you'll never get the chance!"

That's when Nate had it.

And before Shane could comprehend it, he felt something hard colliding with his jaw, and he staggered backwards, mainly from shock when he realized that Nate had actually _punched_ him. Not being able to control his temper anymore, Shane hit back. Hard. It actually sent Nate to the ground, which was Shane's intention.

But before he knew it, he and Nate were rolling on the floor, throwing punches as hard as they possibly could, and just doing anything they could to hurt the other.

It didn't take long for Mitchie to hear the commotion, and she was shocked when she saw that Nate and Shane were actually fighting each other, and she immediately went to pull them off, but they were both too strong, and she was afraid of being caught in the middle of one of the punches.

"Shane, stop!" She screamed at him, trying pathetically to pull at his arm, trying to get him to stop throwing the punches, but Nate was throwing them just as much, and they were both getting beaten, and Mitchie couldn't stand watching either of them getting hurt. Tears were now leaking from her eyes, and when Shane realized that, he immediately stopped swinging the punches to glance up at Mitchie, getting him another punch to the face. But he pulled himself away from Nate, who had slowed down once he realized that Mitchie was crying, and Nate immediately felt guilty.

Mitchie couldn't get a hold of herself. She didn't want to see two guys that she cared about hurting each other because of _her._ It was all her fault, and now they were both going to have bruises and cuts.

She didn't fight him when she felt Shane pull her into him, instead she buried her face in his chest and cried, not being able to stand everything that was going on. Nate getting hurt emotionally, then him and Nate beating each other physically. It was absolutely ridiculous. She really cared about them both, but they were really making her choose, and it was breaking her heart, because she knew she'd end up choosing Shane, and she hated that she would have to hurt Nate in the process.

Nate stared at the embracing couple with a heavy heart, before shaking his head and leaving the room to go clean himself up.

After a few more minutes, Mitchie sniffled and pulled away from Shane before getting a good look at him. He had bruises and cuts all over his face, and he was bleeding in some spots.

She sighed and tugged at his hand. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She muttered softly, pulling him out of Nate's bedroom and back into the kitchen where she made him lean against the counter while she got a cloth and moistened it as to clean the cuts on his face. She sighed as she dabbed at the blood that was slipping from the deeper cuts, and Shane didn't even wince.

She was silent while she did it, even as Shane looked at her with an intense, apologetic expression.

"What happened, Shane?" She asked him quietly.

"I apologized, and he didn't accept it. Then it went all downhill from there."

She bit her lower lip before asking the one thing she was worried about. "Did you hit him first?"

She could see the honesty in his eyes when he shook his head, telling her no.

"Tell me what happened."

He went through everything that was said, and all the hurtful things they said to each other, and Mitchie felt even worse, because she felt like she had started this in the first place.

"He was wrong." He told her softly, and she looked at him confused. "When he said that I would end up hurting you. He was wrong." He gave her that intense look again, and she couldn't help but to stare back. "I won't ever hurt you, Mitchie. I promise." And it was the same look he gave her last night when he had promised he would be there when she woke up.

She had no choice but to believe him.

When she was done, she threw the wash cloth away, but before she could make a move to back away from Shane, he was gripping her waist and pulling her up against him, their lips only centimeters away from each others.

He didn't say anything, though it looked like he was going to, and instead he just dipped his head and caught Mitchie's lips with his. Mitchie responded immediately, her mind completely forgetting about everything that had happened that morning, and lost herself in Shane's lips, and the way his tongue felt moving against hers, and all around her mouth. His hands gripped her hips, and hers clutched desperately at his hair. She couldn't hold back the meek moan that escaped her lips when she felt his hands moving slowly under her shirt, and that's when she had to stop him.

She reluctantly pulled back from him, but leaned her forehead against his, their breathing heavy.

"Shane...I need to talk to Nate."

Shane's eyes tightened, but he nodded his head anyways. Who was he to stop her?

"Fine..." He let his lips linger against hers for a moment. "Just come back to me."

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**Okay, so that turned out WAY longer than I had anticipated it too. lol I actually think it's pretty bad, which sucks, lol but it's just because I'm tired, and I wanted to get this posted.**

**So, whether ya hate it or not, please review telling me what you think, because I appreciate everything !**


	13. Chapter 12

**Sooo I love you guys for all the reviews, favorites, etc. that I got, you guys really and truly make my day everytime I see something new, no matter what it is.**

**Unfortunately, I wasn't in the best of moods when I wrote this, so I'm sorry if this came out suckish or whatev.**

**But I did get all happy cuz of the Kid's Choice Awards (not the actual show, cuz that pretty much sucked, Dylan Sprouse over Joe or Nick, **_**really??**_**) No, I was psyched cuz of all the Jemi-ness that was happening all night long, so that was pretty great.**

**You guys are rad, and I hope you like this one!**

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Mitchie bit her lip hesitantly as she stopped outside of the Connect 3 music room where she knew Nate had wandered off to after the fight between him and Shane, and she was nervous about what she was about to have to say to him. She had never intended for him to find out about her and Shane the way he had. She had wanted to explain that he was like her best friend, but she could never feel that way about him, but of course Shane being Shane, had to shove it in his face in a rude way, and she felt awful about that. She was terrified that Nate would be mad at her, because she didn't want to lose her friendship with him over something like this, that just wouldn't be fair. He was honestly an incredible person, and a great guy, but there was nothing between them. There couldn't have been. Not like there was between her and Shane.

Sighing, mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen, she meekly knocked on the door before letting herself in. If Nate had heard her knock, he sure didn't show it. He had his guitar in his lap, and his back was facing her, and he made no sign of acknowledgment as she entered the room, and she felt her heart sink, knowing that he really was mad at her. Even though he had every right to be mad at her, she had that small bit of hope that he wouldn't be, but of course she was wrong.

"Nate?" She called to him weakly, not sure on how to begin her words.

He didn't turn around, but she did hear him sigh deeply, and he briefly stopped plucking at the strings of his guitar, but after a few moments, he began again, obviously trying to ignore her presence.

"Nate..." She tried again. "I think we should really talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." He snapped, causing her to wince, expecting it, but not exactly pleased with it.

"Nate, please, we need to talk about this." She pleaded, a little more forcefully now. She refused to have her friendship with Nate damaged because of this. And she refused to let this ruin his friendship with Shane as well.

"Alright, fine." He snapped bitterly. "Let's talk." He shoved his guitar to the ground and stood to finally face Mitchie, and she cringed at the harsh glare.

"Look, I didn't want you to find out about Shane and I the way you did..."

He scoffed, not giving her a chance to finish. "It doesn't matter how I found out, Mitchie. No matter how I found out, you still led me on, and made me look like an idiot."

Insulted, Mitchie shook her head at his accusation. "I never led you on!" She defended herself. Leading him on was the one thing she was trying to avoid.

"You had plenty of chances to tell me that you didn't like me, Mitchie! But instead you go running to Shane, and leave me thinking that I actually stood a chance with you!"

"I _did_ try telling you, Nate! But we kept getting interrupted! The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you!"

"Well, you did!" He shouted, a little more harsher than he intended, and it made tears well up in Mitchie's eyes, because she hated hurting people, especially people she cared about. And she _did_ care about Nate, no matter what was going through his mind at that moment.

"I'm sorry." She whimpered, and when Nate heard the sound, he felt himself cooling down, and began feeling guilty for being so harsh to her. He hated seeing girls cry, especially Mitchie. But she had hurt him, whether she intended to or not.

"Look, I think I just need some time, Mitchie." He told her reluctantly. He didn't want their friendship to go down the drain because of this either, but he had already fallen for her, and it hurt just to look at her and think about what she had done with Shane the previous night.

"Nate, please, I don't want this to ruin our friendship." She pleaded.

Nate sighed and shook his head. It was already screwing up their friendship, because Nate couldn't be satisfied if that was all he got with her. It would be too difficult. Especially if she was going to be with Shane.

"I can't, Mitchie. You have to understand that."

Mitchie shook her head stubbornly, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. Why was this hurting so much? "Nate, no! Please, I care about you, I _do._ What can I do, Nate?" She begged. She had to have Nate in her life, no matter how short of a time she knew him, he became such a great friend, and she'd be so torn up if all of that was ruined.

"You can't do anything. Because you're with Shane." He felt himself choke up just saying that, because it really sucked to say.

Why did Shane have to get everything he wanted, and Nate was left heartbroken?

It didn't seem fair. Or maybe Nate was just being selfish. Either way, Shane got the girl. As always.

Mitchie couldn't seem to find anything to say, she was just completely guilt stricken by how much she had hurt the man standing in front of her. And she would continue hurting him everyday that she was with Shane, and it just didn't seem fair.

"I think you should go, Mitch." He told her reluctantly. "Shane's probably waiting for you." There was a bit of bitterness in his tone, but he did his best to hide it.

Mitchie didn't move, she stood there with tear streaked cheeks, wishing she could do something to make Nate feel better. There probably wasn't a thing she could do, like he had said, but that didn't stop her from wishing there was. With a small burst of confidence though, she walked up to Nate and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She ignored his protests, and eventually he gave in and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her just as tightly.

More tears leaked from her eyes, because it just didn't seem fair that she was hurting him so badly.

She sniffled slightly and reluctantly pulled away from him. "I-I guess I'll go." She stated, beginning to back away from him.

"Wait." He told her softly, and she looked at him curiously. "Don't get mad, but I just wanna try this again."

Mitchie didn't understand what he meant, but then she quickly understood when he stepped closer to her and placed his hands hesitantly on her waist before slowly dropping his lips onto hers. Mitchie froze when she felt his lips against hers, but she didn't push him away. She had to see if there was something there or not.

There wasn't.

It felt the same as it did the first time he kissed her. Awkward. Like she was kissing her brother.

And worst of all, she wished it were Shane she was kissing, because feeling someone else's lips on hers just didn't feel right. Shane's did.

Unfortunately it wasn't like that for Nate. He definitely felt something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was there, a small spark of..._something, _he just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. But it didn't matter. Because he could tell that it wasn't the same for Mitchie, and that caused him to pull away.

"Anything?" He asked her hopefully, even though he already knew the answer.

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry." She whispered tearfully. Nate simply nodded, trying to be understanding but failing miserably.

Mitchie didn't say anything else, she just backed out of the room, with tears still flowing down her cheeks. She immediately went to find Shane, and almost immediately found him on the couch in the living room staring at the blank television screen, and she could tell that he had been waiting anxiously for her, because the second he heard her enter the room his head snapped in her direction and he was on his feet when he saw her tears.

"What's wrong?" He demanded. "What happened?" As soon as he was close enough he wiped away her tears, but Mitchie just shook her head and buried her head in his chest, still sniffling. She simply wrapped his arms around her, and Mitchie couldn't help but to think of how good it felt to be in Shane's arms, with her head against his chest, and him comforting her, it was a feeling she didn't want to go away at the moment.

"I really hurt him, Shane." She whimpered, and Shane tightened his hold on her. "I feel like such a horrible person."

"You're not, Mitchie. He'll get over it." He tried to comfort her, but she was being too stubborn, and Shane knew he wouldn't be able to get through to her quite yet. "What can I do, Mitch?"

She pulled back slightly and looked up at him with that tearful expression that broke his heart. "Just kiss me." She whispered. She had been craving his lips even more after her kiss with Nate, and she was pleased when Shane obliged to her wishes, and he placed his lips on top of hers, and Mitchie responded immediately by letting one of her hands move towards the back of his head to keep him in place. Somehow she felt so much better just feeling his tongue grazing against hers and inside her mouth. Tears were still leaking from her eyes no matter how much she tried to hold him back. She felt awful for crying about this, but she didn't want to lose her friendship with Nate. He had only been in her life for a month, but he was already an important part of it, just like Jason, and now Shane, were as well. She didn't think she could bear losing any of them.

Even as her lungs begged for oxygen, she refused to pull away from Shane. He was making her feel better, and she didn't want to lose that feeling quite yet, and she didn't want move away from him yet either.

But unfortunately Shane was the one to pull back, gulping in the much needed air, but he still held her as closely to him as he possibly could. He had to admit that it did hurt that she was getting so upset about this thing with Nate, and he understood that she was friends with him and all, but friends don't look absolutely heartbroken if something goes wrong, sure maybe they're upset, but never like this, and that scared Shane, because he did have that little seed of doubt that told him maybe Mitchie made the wrong decision. The thought made his heart ache as he pulled Mitchie tighter against him.

But she came back to him, and that had to mean something, right?

He hoped so, because he was already in too deep to lose her now.

With a sigh, he continued to hold her until hopefully her tears would stop falling.

* * *

Nate strummed furiously at his guitar after Mitchie left. He hated to see her cry so much, but what else could he have done? He wouldn't be able to stand seeing her with Shane, it just wasn't fair. He was an asshole, a jerk, and he had treated Mitchie horribly from the second they first met.

How did he _still_ get her?

Nate had never felt so heartbroken in his entire life and it just wasn't _fair_. How could she have felt nothing when he kissed her, when it seemed that he felt everything.

No matter what Shane said, Nate knew he would end up hurting her, whether it would be intentional or not Shane _would_ hurt her, because that's just how he was in his 'relationships.' He had hurt every girl that he had ever been with, and that was a lot of girls.

Mitchie deserved only the best, and Shane just couldn't give that to her. But Nate could. He _knew_ he could. But she wouldn't give him a chance.

Because she had Shane.

Maybe it wouldn't last long, or she'd realize that she made the wrong decision and would finally know that she belonged with Nate.

A guy could only hope.

He sighed when he heard a knock on his door, but was slightly relieved to find Jason instead Shane or Mitchie. He couldn't stand to talk to either one of them at the moment.

"Whoa, dude, what happened to your face?" Jason said after immediately noticing his friends bruised face. Nate cringed.

"Shane and I got into a fight."

Jason's eyes widened considerably. "What? Over what?!" He demanded.

"Over Mitchie." Nate said simply, but his voice was laced with venom.

Jason tilted his head to the side, confused. "Why would you and Shane be fighting over Mitchie?" He wondered.

"Apparently I'm not the only one who has a crush on her."

"Wait, Shane actually _likes_ Mitchie? Like, like-_likes_ her?"

Nate stared at him for a moment, before nodding his head. "And of course, when I spill my heart to her, she's already with Shane, and apparently I don't stand a chance."

"How did that happen?" He was completely and utterly confused, but it _was _Jason.

"They slept together, Jase." Nate told him bitterly, still sickened by the thought of it.

"That doesn't sound like something Mitchie would do." Jason pointed out, still confused, but Nate just glared at him.

"But she did!" He snapped, making Jason frown. Nate sighed. "Can you just leave me alone for a little while? I don't want to talk about this."

Jason nodded and reluctantly left the room, leaving his friend to sulk. He walked out towards the living room and was surprised to see Shane and Mitchie on the couch.

Making out.

Jason wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ewwie." And then he immediately backed out of the room trying to erase the scene from his mind.

* * *

Mitchie wasn't sure how they ended up on the couch exactly. She remembered him comforting her after her confrontation with Nate, and she remembered feeling completely content despite what she had just gone through with one of her closest friends. And the next thing she knew, she and Shane were making out feverishly on the couch, her hands tangled in the depths of his thick hair, while one of his was curled under thigh and the other was gliding over her skin from underneath her shirt.

But of course just as it was about to get interesting, the phone went off.

Mitchie groaned, and pulled Shane closer to her body, trying to tell him to ignore it, which he had no problem obliging to. But the mood was abruptly killed when the answering machine went off and an impossibly annoying, unknown voice came floating through, and Shane stiffened and pulled away from Mitchie as they both listened to it.

"Shaney..." The voice giggled, and Mitchie raised her eyebrows at Shane. "Are we still on for our date tonight, baby?" Mitchie could have gagged. "I'll make it worth your while." The voice purred seductively. "Call me."

Shane stared at the phone, horrified, while Mitchie glared at him.

"Who was that?" She asked, not bothering to beat around the bush about it.

Shane inwardly cursed the girl over the phone for putting him in this position. That was the last thing he needed while he was trying to prove himself to Mitchie.

"J-Just a girl I met before we were set up on the whole publicity thing, I swear, it was before I met you." He explained, hoping he wasn't in too much trouble with her. His shoulders slumped in relief when her glare softened.

"As long as it wasn't after the first time you kissed me, then I guess I have no right to be upset. There were obviously other girls before me, because you were _obviously_ not a virgin when we had sex, and I guess I have to get used to girls throwing themselves at you."

She was a little intimidated, because she could just picture Shane with a girl who could look like a supermodel, with bleach blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and skinny.

Mitchie knew she was somewhat attractive, she just knew firsthand that guys went for girls like that most of the time.

"You're not mad?" He asked. How could she _not_ be mad after he had just gotten hit on over the phone?

"It's not my place to be mad." She explained with a shrug. "Just as long as I'm the only girl in your life _now_."

He smiled that smile that had Mitchie's heart melting and a smile growing on her own face. "Don't worry, you are. And I'm gonna keep it that way. Promise."

"Good. Now come here..." She curled her finger under his chin and pulled his lips back down on hers and continuing where they had left off before they got interrupted.

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**Unfortunately I have to admit that was kinda filler-ish, and I don't think I meant for it to turn out that way. lol**

**Oh well, there'll be more in the next coming chapters, because I got a few things planned for this story.**

**But ya know what ya gotta to get it more quickly???**

**Review!! lol Seriously, you guys are great, and you make me want to write all this. I've never been so good about updates before, and I'm totally loving it.**

**So please review!**

**You know you wanna...**

**Oh and btw, Demi on Grey's Anatomy??? Yes, please!! lmao I can't wait for that episode, I'm sure Demi will do fantastic.**


	14. Chapter 13

**I don't know how to put into words how sorry I am for not updating like I needed to be. But in my defense, I have had absolutely zero inspiration for any sort of writing as of lately. It also doesn't helo that I am incredibly frustrated with the Jonas Brothers at the moment, and have been for a few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I still love them, I can never not love them, I am just terribly frustrated with them. With that, it makes it all the more difficult to write stories that have them in mind, but I'm gonna try, just because you guys deserve it for sticking with this story even though I go through slumps where I have a tough time writing, and I figure I need to pay you guys back somehow, so I hope this chapter doesn't suck, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't, but please tell me whether you like it or not, because your support means everything to me and without it I might not have ever written anymore of this. I love you guys, and thank you so much.**

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**It had been three weeks. Three miserable weeks. For Nate anyways. Shane and Mitchie had been all over each other, literally, they were inseparable, and the press was getting a kick out of it, because with them actually being together, it made for an easier job when they had to let the paparazzi in. But Nate was just disgusted by it. Often times he would walk into the living room and catch them making out, or even just sitting together on the couch, which still hurt because most times Mitchie was practically sitting in his lap. Nate thought that as time went on it would get easier and he would get used to them. But it didn't. And unfortunately for him, it only got worse. His heart ached in the worst of ways whenever he saw Shane and Mitchie share a kiss of any sorts.

And the worst part was that they didn't look like they were going to be breaking up soon. Nate was surprised to see how much Shane was changing, and going back to his old ways. It was impossible not to notice. He wasn't screaming at people, or cursing at people, he still had the same temper, but it hardly ever came out anymore. He made his own breakfast, and sometimes even made Mitchie breakfast. He was even being nicer to Nate and Jason. Even though he still gave Nate hard looks every now and then because Nate couldn't deny the fact that he still wanted Brooke, and Shane could definitely tell. But even their producers and managers were seeing a significant change in Shane.

And it was obviously all because of Mitchie. Of course, Shane would get grumpy anytime he wasn't around her. They were working on a new album, so they were spending a lot of time at the studio, and of course Mitchie had to do her own promotional things as well considering her album was just about to come out. So thankfully for Nate, they didn't get to spend all of their time together. Nate just couldn't wait until they toured, because then Shane wouldn't get to have Mitchie.

But then again, Nate wouldn't get to have Mitchie either, so no one woud be happy. Except Jason. Jason was always happy. Especially now that Shane was slowly going back to his old ways. His good ways. Nate would have been absolutely ecstatic if it hadn't been for the fact that Shane was with the girl that Nate was quickly falling for. The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that Nate had dozens of new songs for the album. Granted, they weren't the happiest of songs, but still.

He had been spending most of the time in the Connect 3 music room, blocking himself from everybody, because Mitchie had been staying over for most of the time, and only went back to her apartment when she absolutely had to, which wasn't often, she obviously much prefered to stay with Shane.

Nate hadn't even expected for this whole thing to last this long. He had to at least give Shane credit for that. It's the longest he's seen a girl since...well, ever really. All the other girls had been random flings, faces that he'll never remember. Mitchie obviously wasn't going to be one of those girls.

He had been working on tons of songs for the past 3 weeks to try and block his mind of everything that was going on. He always seemed to lose himself whenever he wroite his music, and that's just the way he liked it, and that was exactly what he needed to try and take his mind off of Mitchie. He was extremely frustrated, and that definitely showed in the songs that he was writing. He wasn't sure the label would let him record any or not, since it was obviously not the pop stuff that they had been forced to play, but there was no harm in trying. And besides, writing out his frustration made him feel better. Until of course he walked out of the room, then everything would always come flooding back to him. But at least he had a few moments.

At the moment, he was stuck in the middle of writing a song, and that wasn't good because he never really got stuck, there was always something he needed to write down, but it just wasn't coming to him right then. With a frustrated sigh, he threw his pencil down and shoved his guitar off to the side before standing up off the couch and stalking out of the room. Naturally, the first thing he saw was Shane and Mitchie on the couch, making out, as usual. He wasn't going to be able to put up with that today.

"Do you think you guys can suck face somewhere else?" He snapped, his frustration getting the better of him.

Immediately Shane and Mitchie looked over at him, Shane with a glare, naturally, and Mitchie was giving him those sad eyes she always gave him practically whenever she saw him, and just for a moment, it always made Nate feel a little guilty, but then he would just think of the fact that she was sitting in Shane's lap at the moment and his anger would come rushing back to him.

He hadn't talked to Mitchie at all. It was too hard. She had made several attempts, but Nate would hardly ever respond, he would just ignore her or walk away, in rare moments he gave a nod of acknowledgment or something, but that was on a good day. He knew it was hurting Mitchie, but he didn't care. He was hurting worse.

Before Shane and Mitchie could respond to him, he was already swiftly making his way pass them and out of the house, needing to clear his head for awhile.

* * *

Mitchie watched sadly as Nate stalked out the front door after snapping at her and Shane. He had gotten more and more distant as the weeks went on, and no matter what he tried, she couldn't get through to him. He completely closed himself off and wouldn't say a single word to her. It was understandable at first, because things had gotten a little out of hand, but now she just thought he was being ridiculous. Had he liked her that much? She had hoped that maybe he would have gotten over it by now, and things would be better. But he just seemed to be keeping himself as far away from her as possible, and she didn't think that was fair.

Shane automatically seemed to pick up on her mood, and he soothingly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, making her turn to look at him instead of the front door where her gaze had been lingering.

"Come on, baby, don't worry, he'll get over it." He tried to reassure but Mitchie looked at him skeptically.

"You said that 3 weeks ago, Shane. He only seems to be getting more and more distant. I thought he would be over it by now."

"Well, it's Nate. He likes to brood about things for a long time, but he'll come around. He'll have to."

Mitchie sighed, trying to believe that, but she just wasn't sure anymore. How could he be that upset as to not even talk to her?

"It's like he's not even trying though, Shane. I mean, every time I try to talk to him he doesn't even look at me, like I'm not even there. I didn't think he had liked me that much for him to be hurt like this."

"Well, babe, you can't help it. You're kinda irresistible." Shane smirked, and Mitchie playfully glared at him.

"I'm serious, Shane."

"So am I." He shrugged. "But just give him time. And besides, he usually gets pretty distant when we're about to record an album. You know him, always the perfectionist, he has to make every last detail perfect and sometimes that includes closing himself off so he can do that." Shane tried to reassure her, but he honestly didn't know. He was getting frustrated with Nate though, that was for sure. He always saw the looks that Nate would give Mitchie, and really got on Shane's nerves. But he understood that Nate was hurt. He would have most definitely felt the same way if Mitchie had chosen Nate and not him. But he was glad it didn't work out that way, even if Nate was being completely ridiculous.

"Speaking of your new album," Mitchie stated, trying to change the subject. "Are you gonna try and talk to the label about recording your own songs, instead of the other stuff they make you sing." Mitchie had been trying to convince him to do that for the past few weeks, and Shane was pretty sure that she wouldn't stop trying until he did it, but he was still incredibly hesitant about it.

"I dunno, Mitch, what if they're right and the fans hate it?"

"So? Shane, what's the point of having millions of fans listen to your music when you're not playing the music you love? Isn't that the whole point? To tell the fans how you feel through music, and getting them to feel the same way? Your fans will stick by you no matter what, Shane, and the others are just after your looks and they wouldn't care if you played polka as long as kept wearing tight pants."

That got a grin out of Shane, and a laugh as he shook his head. "Are you saying you like me in tight pants?"

Mitchie playfully rolled her eyes. "How could someone not like you in tight pants? You have a pretty nice butt." He laughed again.

"You have a point there." He teased with a grin.

Mitchie just smiled at him, because she couldn't believe the progress they had been making. Shane had totally flipped, he was someone that Mitchie wanted to spend all of her time with, wanted to be in contact with him constantly, and wanted to be close to him at all points of the day. She didn't know what that meant, but she didn't care, she just loved that she was seeing the side of Shane that she had always dreamed of seeing.

Before she knew it, she couldn't resist placing her lips back on his, where he easily responded back to her, and just like that, all thoughts involving Nate slipped from her mind, and she focused on the man that she had most definitely fallen for.

* * *

Nate came back a few hours later with a somewhat clear brain, and immediately made his way back into the music room where he attempted to finish his song. Shane and Mitchie had been cuddled on the couch watching tv, and Jason was attempting to try and work his new phone, but had been failing miserably.

They had all planned to simply have takeout brought to them, because none of them were really in the mood to go out to eat or to cook anything. It had been a rather lazy day, and they were all happy to enjoy it. Well, Shane, Mitchie, and Jason were enjoying it. Nate was still using his time to brood.

"Hey, I invited my friend Caitlyn for dinner, is that okay?" Mitchie asked Shane when their food had arrived and they began taking it out of the bag.

In response, Shane shrugged. "Fine with me, it doesn't really matter."

"Good, because I just wanna show you off to my best friend." She grinned and Shane let out a small laugh and quickly pecked her lips before getting back to the food.

Nate had just walked out of the music room when he had smelled the food, and as soon as he got to the living room he heard the doorbell ring, and with a sigh, he made his way to it and opened it before stopping in his tracks.

"Hey, I'm Caitlyn. I'm Mitchie's friend." Nate didn't respond for a moment, but he got his head back in order and nodded his head.

"Right." He muttered, motioning her to come inside, which she did and she took that time to look around their rather large home.

"Wow..." She said with a shrug. "Nice place."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem impressed."

"I don't see the need for big giant houses, they just take up space and most of the rooms go to waste because usually a lot of people don't live in one. But if ya got money, might as well use it on something." She shrugged before finding her way to the kitchen where she greeted Mitchie, who then introduced her to Shane and Jason.

Nate just stared at the girl for a moment, not exactly sure why he was. She seemed...intriguing. He didn't know why, she just did, and he couldn't take his mind off of it. But with a sigh, he shook his head and joined the others at the dining room table and began to eat, his eyes wandering over to Caitlyn every now and then. And for once, his mind wasn't lingering on Shane or Mitchie as they stared at each other and held hands and God knows what else while at the table.

* * *

Later that night, Shane and Mitchie lay in his bed, simply talking and cuddling just because they could, and the next day the only thing that needed to be done was that the boys would have to go for a couple of interviews in the afternoon and that would be it.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Mitchie's fingers entertaining themselves by tracing random shapes along Shane's shirtless chest that she always took the time to admire. They had been like that for awhile, simply enjoying each others presence and just taking the time to be with each other.

"I think I'll pitch a couple of my songs to the label when I go up there next." Shane said suddenly, almost startling Mitchie because she had been so used to the silence. But when his words registered in her head, she grinned and angled her head so she was looking up at him.

"Really?" He nodded. "What made you change your mind?"

"Well, I never really had my mind made up. It's something I had always thought about, for the past three years I had been thinking about trying to talk them into playing our real music, but I always chickened out. But you were right earlier. I want the fans to hear the music I want them to hear, I want them to get inspired, and I want it to mean something to them. I don't just wanna be known for my looks, that won't get me anywhere. I want my music to mean something. And what's the point of doing what I love most when I can't even play the type of music I love. It had been wrong these past few years. Everything had been wrong, and I'm ready for a change."

Mitchie smiled up at him, immensely proud of him. "With that attitude, Shane, you can change the world." With that, she leaned up and placed a tender kiss on his lips before laying her head back down on his chest.

There was silence for a little while longer until Shane was the one to break it again. "Did you notice the way Nate kept staring at Caitlyn all through dinner?"

Mitchie glanced up at him again. "No, I was kinda distracted by your hand that was happy to run up and down my thigh all night." She teased, and he grinned, briefly distracted from the topic that he had brought up.

"Seriously though, Mitch. You should have seen the looks he kept giving her, I can't really explain it."

"You think Nate likes Caitlyn?"

"I don't know, it's always kinda hard to tell with him. Especially with how he has been lately. But maybe he does. But that would be good, right? That would mean he would be getting over yeah."

"Well, yeah, but it wouldn't be good." Shane looked down at her confused.

"Why wouldn't it be good? If he's over you, maybe you could go back to being friends again."

"Yeah, that part would be good, but it would be bad because Caitlyn has a boyfriend. Well, sorta. She's on and off with him all the time, and I never really know, one day they'd be broken up and she'd hate his guts, and the next I would find them making out on the couch. I don't think it'd be good for Nate, and he'd probably just end up getting hurt again."

Shane sighed. "Yeah, that wouldn't be good." He finally agreed, understanding now.

Mitchie just hoped that things would smooth out with Nate soon enough, it wasn't the same spending so much time in their house and not even being able to talk to him because it hurt him too much. She just wanted to be his best friend again and not have to worry about the complications of him liking her. She always felt guilty for hurting him in the first place, but what else could she do? Someone would have gotten hurt anyways. If she had picked Nate, Shane would have been hurt, and she would have been too, because she cared so much about Shane, and she knew she had made the right choice when she had decided to be with him. Nate just needed to get over it.

And who knows, maybe things would work out with him and Caitlyn.

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**So sorry that it's kinda lame, but at the moment I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this story, so if you guys have any ideas PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know and I will take every single one of them into consideration and would be forever grateful. **

**I know there was a lot of Nate in this chapter, but that's just how it needs to be at the moment. And I know there's not a lot of Jason yet, but once I get through this whole Nate/Mitchie drama, I will most definitely fit him into the story more. And also, I need a love interest for Jason, so if you have any names, please tell me, because I'm kinda not sure at this point. :P**

**Like I said, sorry if it's lame, but remember, I haven't had much inspiration lately, but I really tried my hardest, and I hope you all like it. And please remember to review, because without you I probably would never be able to get through this story, even though I love writing it. **

**I love you guys, and thanks for sticking with this story. **


	15. AN

A/N

So, no, this is not a chapter, and I am so incredibly sorry about that. And I know those of you guys still reading this, you want a chapter. If there even are any of you still reading this. I promised myself that I would never tease you guys and post just an A/N chapter and make you think it was an actual chapter, and I'm not happy that I am now breaking that promise to myself, but I need to know if I should update, and if any of y'all want to hang in there with me and continue reading this story. You have no idea how awful I feel for not updating in forever, but life has been rough lately. I'm not gonna blab about my personal problems to you guys, so I'll just leave it at that and hope you understand. I haven't had time or much inspiration to update this, even though I do love writing it. I'm trying to get back into writing it, and I just need to know if you guys still wanna read it. If you do, I'll continue writing, but it's been so long since I've updated, I wouldn't blame you if any of y'all have lost interest. So, just let me know in a review. I really appreciate it, and once again, I'm so sorry that I'm so bad at this updating thing.


	16. Chapter 14

**Well, I was overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised by the reviews I got telling me that they'll still read this story, so I didn't want to disappoint. So, I wrote this up. I wanted to make up for teasing you with an AN chapter and not a real chapter, and I didn't want y'all to have to wait very long. So, I apologize ahead of time for any possible mistakes or errors that will possibly show up in this chapter. I'm kinda tired while writing this too, but I usually write better when I'm tired, which sucks, because obviously when I'm tired I'm focusing on sleeping and not writing, but whatever. lol **

**Enjoy, and please leave a review.**

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Ever since Shane brought up Nate possibly liking Caitlyn, Mitchie had been trying to work that one out. Because there was nothing she wanted more than for Nate to move on and be happy again. She wanted him to be her friend again, and she didn't want to have to feel guilty whenever she looked at him and saw how upset and hurt he was. But things weren't looking up in that department. In fact, they were looking downright impossible. Mitchie was never able to keep track of Caitlyn's on again, off again, relationship with her sometimes boyfriend, James. One day she loved him, and the next day she hated him, and that had been the pattern for nearly two years, and it wasn't showing any signs of letting up. Mitchie loved Caitlyn like a sister, but she was the last person that Mitchie wanted to set up with a guy like Nate. He was the commitment type, when he was with a girl, he wanted it to be for the long run. But that was most definitely not Caitlyn at all, and it never will be.

She had tried talking to Caitlyn about what she thought about Nate, but Caitlyn hadn't been been impressed. Though she admitted that he was cute, and nice. But he was too shy and quiet for her tastes, and Mitchie should have expected that, but it still bummed her out to hear it. She knew it was just going to be a dead end no matter what.

She just still had to hope that Nate will somehow get over this little funk he was in and move on with his life. But she unfortunately couldn't see that happening anytime in the near future. Especially because he was still making a point to ignore her and basically act as if she didn't exist.

That sucked the worst suck that ever sucked.

She wanted to get back to the point of friendship with Nate. She absolutely hated this awkward tension that surrounded them constantly. He was the one that was so unwilling. Mitchie was the one doing everything in her power to try and make things easier between them, but he was just being so uncooperative.

Shane wasn't being much help either. He always tells Mitchie that Nate will just somehow magically get over it, but Mitchie's having a hard time believing him on that one, because it has been nearly a month, and he was still moody as hell.

Was it so much to ask that she wanted everyone around her to be happy?

Obviously.

She almost had that. Everyone seemed to be happy except Nate, which seemed unfair, but Mitchie knew that he was bringing it upon himself.

At the moment she was trying to think of things that she could do to help Nate or get him to cooperate, but she kept coming up empty. She was slumped into the couch at Connect 3's house, waiting for Shane to get home. The boys had some meeting that they needed to do, and Mitchie's schedule was surprisingly clear for the next couple of days, which was nice, except for the fact that she was bored out of her mind without Shane and her other friends.

But finally, she heard the front door opened, and in walking two grinning members of Connect 3 and one who was scowling.

For once, Shane was not the one who was scowling.

"Mitchie, guess what?" Shane asked, and she almost worked up to being amused at how happy he sounded. Though she did notice that Nate glared at him before stalking off down the hallway and probably towards his room.

Mitchie didn't let her mind linger on Nate though, because Shane's smile was just too contagious and she found herself smiling back.

"What?"

"You're going on tour with us!" Jason shouted gleefully from behind Shane, who immediately was turning to glare at the older boy.

"Dude!" He scolded. "We agreed that I was going to be the one to tell her!"

Jason immediately back tracked. "Oh yeah. Oops. Sorry, I forgot."

Shane just rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else to the boy, who looked relieved. It seemed he was still getting used to Shane not blowing up everytime he didn't get his way. Mitchie was sure Jason was loving it. But at the moment all she was focusing on was what Jason had shouted.

She was going on tour with the biggest band in the world?

Holy shit.

"Wait, I'm going on tour with you guys?"

Shane's smile returned at once as he nodded his head eagerly. "Yeah! As our special guest." He seemed extremely excited, and that made Mitchie realize why Nate was so unhappy. Touring with each other meant that he would have to be around her and Shane more, and it'd be harder for him to ignore Mitchie as much as he was. A tour bus wasn't as big as Connect 3's house, and it would be harder to play his favorite avoiding game. Of course then, she realized, that being on tour meant way more time with Shane, which made her forget all about Nate.

"So, we'll get to share a tour bus?" Mitchie bit her lip to fight off the seductive grin that was forming on her lips as she looked up at Shane.

Surprisingly, Jason caught on to her double meaning, even before Shane did, and made a face before saying. "Ugh. Did not need to hear that."

And then he left the room, leaving Shane to smirk at Mitchie.

"Absolutely." Shane said in response to her question.

"And, exactly how big will these bunks be. Big enough to fit two people?" She inquired. Shane's smirk just grew.

"Probably not. But I don't think that's going to be too much of a problem."

Mitchie just had to roll her eyes playfully at him, even though she didn't it find it much of a problem either. In fact, it would probably be an advantage to have to share such a confined space with each other.

"I think you're right." And with that she stood up and moved closer to him so she could place her lips exactly where they belonged on his.

* * *

Nate was furious. He wasn't hurt, or upset, or even frustrated like he had been feeling ever since Mitchie hooked up with Shane. No, he was down right _seething._ This tour was supposed to get Shane away from Mitchie, not fucking bring them together! It was supposed to give Mitchie time to realize her mistake in dating Shane, and realize she is so much better without him. But no! His fucking label just had to bring up that the world would love to see Mitchie Torres on tour with Connect 3. And if they were in any other situation, Nate would agree with them. Mitchie was an incredibly talented musician, with an entire fan base of her own, and them merging would get them both more fans. But now! Now was the worst possible time for this to be happening. There was no way in hell that Nate could go an entire tour with Mitchie being on the same damn bus as him. Because he knew that Shane would find some way to get her on their bus, and Nate did _not_ need to be that close to either of them at the same time.

He was pacing furiously in his room, running his hands run through his hair in seething anger. He was never good at being angry, he felt it was an emotion that he liked to avoid, but when he did get angry, he got _really_ angry, and that was exactly how he felt at the moment and there was no way to contain it or get rid of it unless he decided to beat the shit out of Shane, which was sounding more and more appealing as time went on. He had never felt this hostile towards Shane. It wasn't the first time that Shane had gotten something that Nate wanted. But it was so different this time. Because Nate wanted Mitchie more than anything. He was running out of patience though, and he didn't know how much longer he could wait for her to realize her mistake in being with Shane. He ached to be with Mitchie in a way he had never felt towards another girl. He couldn't handle all the jealousy he felt when he saw Mitchie making out with Shane or just being around him in general.

Though sometimes he did feel a little ridiculous for getting as worked up as he was, and maybe he was overreacting just a little bit, but he didn't care. He couldn't exactly change how he felt. Obviously if he could, he would have done it by now. He absolutely fucking despised this.

A knock on his door made him jump out of his thoughts.

"What?" He demanded sharply, not wanting to deal with anybody at the moment.

But then in walked Mitchie, and he realized that he _absolutely_ did not want to deal with this at the moment.

Her movements were hesitant, and slightly cautious, as if he were a ticking time bomb. Which he might have been.

"Nate..." She started, even more hesitant than her movements.

"I don't wanna hear it, Mitchie." He snapped, not letting her get another word in. He was too mad to deal with any shit from Mitchie, or her stupid guilty feelings.

All she did was sigh though and step farther into the room, as if she had been expecting him to react like that, which he could't blame her for that.

"I don't care if you don't wanna hear it, Nate. This is getting ridiculous and you know it." Her voice was a little harsher, not as soft and hesitant as it was at first, and that was probably the only thing that would get his attention at the moment.

"What's getting ridiculous?" He snapped back. He knew what she was talking about, but he wanted to see if she was actually going to bring it up or not.

"Jesus, Nate! This whole damn jealousy and bitter thing with you!" He nearly flinched as she raised her voice at him, because that was just something you didn't expect from Mitchie Torres, and it caught Nate off guard for a moment. "It's been nearly a month and you're still ignoring me! You're not even trying to fix things because you're so damn unwilling! Things aren't going to get better by brooding and pouting about it! You actually have to make an fucking effort!" Mitchie didn't make a habit out of using profanity, but she found it necessary at the time to make Nate listen to what she was actually saying. "I'm trying to make things better, but you're being so damn stubborn! Why the hell won't you just try? We can't keep going on like this, especially if we're going to be touring together. We're going to have to try and be civil towards each other at least, and you can't just go on and keep ignoring me..."

She could have gone on for hours, but she was interrupted by Nate abruptly turning her around and slamming her against a wall, leaving her staring at him wide eyed and silent as he glared at her harshly.

"Maybe I don't want to try." He whispered harshly, his glaring face inches from hers. "Maybe I don't want to have to deal with being just your friend, so there's no point in trying to do something that I don't want to do. I _can't_ just be your friend."

"Yes you can." She whispered, finding herself to be a little scared as Nate kept her trapped against the wall.

Suddenly the seething anger fell from his face and Mitchie immediately noticed the pained expression that replaced it and she felt her heart sink. She hated this. She hated that she was hurting him so much. It wasn't fair.

"Nate..." She whispered, moving her hand to skim across his cheek as if to somehow try to wipe away the pain that his face was showing. His eyes connected with hers, and they smothered her for a moment.

She wanted to make him feel better. Anything that she could possibly do. He didn't deserve to be going through this. He was a great, incredible guy and it wasn't fair that he was feeling so much pain just because he felt things for Mitchie that weren't mutual. Her heart hurt for him, but she knew it was nothing to the pain that he felt in his heart at the moment.

Mitchie's lip quivered and before she realized what she was doing, her hand was slipping towards the back of his neck, into his soft curls and pulled his lips towards hers. It wasn't close to the feeling she got when she kissed Shane, but something was still different about it. It wasn't as awkward as it was the previous times, but she still didn't feel anything. It was just lips touching lips, nothing more than that.

Nate felt differently.

He couldn't stop himself from pushing his lips harder against hers, and moved his hands to wrap around her waist and pull Mitchie as close to him as was physically possible. He was going to take advantage of this, because he knew, all too soon, Mitchie would pull away after realizing what she was doing. So he was going to get what he could.

But she kept surprising him. Mainly by not pulling away, but even more by tugging his face closer to hers, her fingers clenching tightly in his curls. Even more when he felt her tongue against his bottom lip, and he didn't waste any time in opening his lips and savoring the moment that he might not ever get again.

Air quickly became an issue, but when he pulled away, he realized that he still hadn't gotten in his fill, and made his lips trail across any part of her skin he could reach.

"Mitchie..." He breathed out against her neck, and she let out a whimper while clutching his head tightly as to make sure he wasn't going to go anywhere.

But just as Nate had expected, she sighed and slightly pushed him off of her. "Nate, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was then Nate realized that there were tears dripping down her cheeks, and that made him wonder if she really was hurting just because she was hurting him. It's not like it was her fault she didn't feel anything for him. Things just happened, and sometimes they really sucked. And suddenly it was him feeling guilty.

"Don't cry..." He told her, moving his hands so he could wipe the tears off her cheeks. "I'm sorry, too. I have been kind of a jerk."

"Kind of." She agreed with a small, pathetic smile. "But you have a good reason."

With a sigh, Nate rested his forehead against hers. She wasn't pulling away, so he wanted to be as close to her as possible.

"I'll try...to make this work. To deal with you and Shane." He told her, although he wasn't going to promise anything. But the least he could do was try. "I think I have been making it worse, because I don't like being away from you. I was just making it that much harder on myself."

She didn't say anything after that, but Nate took the opportunity to place his lips softly on hers again before pulling away and wrapping her in a tight hug, letting the moment mold itself into his brain so he would never forget the feel of her, or the taste of her.

* * *

Even though she probably should have, Mitchie didn't regret her moment with Nate. Not at all. They needed to get that out of their systems, and at least he said he'd try to go back to being friends with her. It was a step up, at least, and Mitchie wasn't going to apologize for that. But she also knew it was something that she couldn't hide from Shane, because that wasn't fair, and also she knew she would be terrible at hiding it, and she'd feel incredibly guilty, so she was just going to have to tell him.

She got him alone in his bedroom, where he was still on a high from knowing that she'd be going on tour with him for an entire summer and maybe more. But Mitchie was afraid that would abruptly be torn away the second the words left her mouth.

"What's up, Mitch?" He could obviously tell something was wrong, and that she wanted to get something off her chest, but he wasn't sure what to expect.

"I kissed Nate." She said immediately, not wasting any time.

Shane froze, that not exactly being the first thing he wanted to hear.

"Kissed?" He asked, slightly numbly.

"Well, kind of made out for a minute. I'm so sorry, Shane. I do feel bad about it, but it's something that needed to be done. I needed to do something to make him listen to me and for him to pay attention. It won't happen again, and he even said that he'd try to be okay with us. Shane, I really want him as my friend again, and I hope you're not too mad at me."

He wanted to be. He wanted to be fucking furious. But he couldn't work up to that because she just looked so damn guilty and she was giving him those huge, innocent brown eyes that he couldn't possibly get mad at.

"You couldn't have talked to him without kissing him?" He muttered, and she sighed in relief, obviously expecting much worse than that.

"I'm sorry, Shane." She said again, and Shane just shook his head. There was no point in arguing about it, or getting worked up about it. What's done is done, and there's no changing it. But maybe now at least Nate wouldn't be such a fucking asshole to be around. That was an upside.

With a sigh, Shane approached Mitchie and cupped her face in his hands. "I know you're sorry. But please, for the love of God, Mitch, don't fucking do it again. Because then I won't be held responsible for beating the shit out of my best friend." He told her, and she smiled, and when she did Shane leaned down and placed his lips on hers and kissed her senseless.

Her hands wrapped around Shane's neck and tugged him closer, so close that she could feel almost every inch of him.

Maybe things were looking up after all.

* * *

**Alright, well, there it is. I apologize for how suckish it might be. It's obviously been awhile since I've done any work on this story and I've gotta get back into the groove of it. I was so ridiculously happy to see how many of you wanted to keep reading, I had to give you something. Sorry there was so much Nitchie though, I swear things with him will be resolved soon, but I just had to work that whole scene in there. Tons of Smitchie coming up, I swear, because I know you're all dying for that. I might just have to dedicate a whole chapter to Smitchie fluffiness just to make up for all the Nitchie I'm putting in here. Nate will find a girl soon, but it might not be Caitlyn, I have another idea in mind, and I'm probably gonna try to work that in her soon. So, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm terribly sorry that I made you wait so long.**


	17. Chapter 15

**Ayooooo an actually reasonable update. Yayyy. I feel accomplished, that's for sure. lol And just like I promised, Smitchie fluff for most of it. So I hope you enjoy it, because this chapter is totally dedicated to every one of you!

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The next few days were a blur of tour discussions. Nate had been good on his word and had been trying to deal with Shane and Mitchie, but she could see how difficult it was for him, so she tried to tone down her PDA with Shane whenever she was in front of Nate. At least when she and Nate were alone, he would talk to her, and that seemed to make it easier on him whenever she wasn't with Shane. Granted though, most of her time was spent with Shane, but she tried to find time to hang out with Nate as well. She was just grateful that he was making an effort at all, and she knew she still needed to give him some time before he fully adjusted.

The tour would be starting in just a few weeks, and most of the shows were already sold out, thanks to Mitchie being the special guest. They still hadn't decided on an opening act yet, the one that would play before Mitchie, who would play before Connect 3, but they were told that they were getting close on deciding. Saying that they wanted someone who was unknown, but could be totally huge and be yet another money maker for the company. Though the label wasn't that bad anymore, especially since they agreed to let Shane and the boys to play some of their own stuff on tour to see how the fans reacted to it, which excited just about everyone.

While their teams did most of the setting up, the boys and Mitchie had a few days off. And on one of those days, Nate and Jason went out and did their own things, and Mitchie got to spend the morning alone with Shane, which was absolutely perfect, seeing as they hardly ever got the chance to just be alone together without having to worry about any Nate drama, or having to go out in public just so the paparazzi would see them together, or meetings, or soundchecks. Just a whole day to themselves.

Currently, they were cuddled up comfortably in Shane's bed, his fingers playing with her hair while she laid against him contently. They were quiet, not feeling the need to talk, but instead just to enjoy each others company while they had the chance. It was mid morning, and they had yet to leave the bed, but neither of them were in any hurry to go anywhere.

Mitchie had never felt this comfortable in Shane's presence before, and that was saying something considering how close they had gotten these past couple of weeks. Some days she didn't think she could feel any closer to him, but he always seemed to prove her wrong.

Her fingers were tracing shapes across Shane's bare chest as she listened to his heart beating.

But of course her stomach growling ruined the quiet, serene moment. She could feel Shane's chest vibrating as he chuckled.

"Looks like we need to get something to eat."

Mitchie pouted. "I don't wanna get up." Shane chuckled again.

"Me neither." And just to prove his point, he tightened his hold on her. "But we have to eat sometime." And with that, he reluctantly began pulling away from Mitchie, making her whine in protest and try to tug him back down onto the bed.

Shane just grinned. "Come on, Mitch. I know you're as hungry as I am. And I make some pretty epic scrambled eggs."

Mitchie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You can cook?"

He nodded. "Better than most people think. Especially scrambled eggs."

"Alright, this I gotta see. You make the eggs, I'm gonna take a shower." Mitchie told him, finally hopping off the bed and into the adjoining bathroom.

Shane was just about halfway through making the eggs when Mitchie came bounding into the kitchen with nothing but one of his t-shirts on, causing Shane to grin at her.

"Well, it smells pretty good. It better taste as good as it smells." She smiled up at hime before wrapping her arms around him from the side while he continued to cook the eggs.

"I don't think you'll be disappointed." He smiled down at her briefly. "Just because I have people who can cook for me and enough money that I could eat out every night, doesn't mean that my mom didn't force me to learn how to cook when I was a kid and before the band got picked up."

"Oh yeah?" He nodded. "You never talk too much about your family." She realized. Over the last few weeks of getting to know him, the only thing they really hadn't talked about was his family. She had told him about her family, even though there wasn't much to tell. She just had her dad who owned a hardware store and her mom who was an incredible cook. But she didn't know a thing about his family.

At her statement, his smile faltered slightly and he sighed. "It's hard to talk about them." He told Mitchie quietly. "They were hit the hardest by my attitude change. They know how much I loved music, and were thrilled when me and the guys got signed. But then the label forced us to play all that shit music that we didn't wanna play, and I obviously didn't take it well. I took it out on my family, and basically anyone I could. They'd call to check up on me, but it'd usually end with me yelling at them until finally their calls became less frequent. They usually just call Nate or Jase to ask how I'm doing. I guess I hurt them a lot. They don't even wanna talk to me. I have a younger sister who I used to be really close with. But I haven't talked to her in about a year." Mitchie saw a pained expression cross his face, and she felt her heart get a little bit heavier at this knowledge. She could only imagine how hard it was for him, especially now that he's realized how awful he had been.

"I'm sorry, Shane." She didn't really know what else to say.

He shrugged. "I brought on myself, I guess."

They were silent for a few moments, Shane focusing on finishing the eggs, and Mitchie just keeping her arms wrapped around him.

"Alright, I think these are just about done." He finally said before smiling at her. "So, think you can handle the awesomeness that are my scrambled eggs?"

Mitchie just grinned and released her hold on him so he could put the eggs onto plates. "I dunno, I hope so. As long as they don't kill me first. I mean, obviously it has been awhile since you last cooked Mr. I-have-my-own-personal-chef." She teased, making him laugh and shake his head before handing her a plate.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Just try the eggs." He grinned, sitting down at the counter next to Mitchie and shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

Mitchie just watched him for a moment. "Well, I guess if they don't kill you, they'll be safe enough for me."

He rolled his eyes playfully at her, but she finally managed to take a bite of the eggs.

"Mmm." She finally said. "Not bad, Shane. These actually don't completely suck."

"Ha. Told ya so." He playfully stuck his tongue out at her.

* * *

A little while later, after they finished their eggs, with only a few more teasing comments from Mitchie on Shane's cooking skills, they found themselves lounging on the couch, watching TV, because they didn't feel like going out anywhere or really do anything except be with each other. And neither of them were really in the mood to deal with the paparazzi.

But of course, Shane wasn't too interested in what they were watching. Instead, his hand was itching up the side of Mitchie's leg, with an obvious destination in mind, and Mitchie caught onto it fairly quickly, and would playfully swat his hand away with a grin set firmly on her face. But naturally he would just start all over again.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and playfully nudged him with her elbow. "Really, Shane?"

"What?" He asked, innocently, or as innocently as Shane Gray could be.

Mitchie turned her gaze from the television to land on the pouting pop star. "You know what, Shane." She smirked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." But he didn't give her a chance to respond when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

She knew exactly what he wanted, but she was in no mood to argue, so she simply wrapped her arms around Shane's neck and tugged herself closer to him, so now she was straddling him on the couch, their lips never parting. Shane's hands immediately found their way under Mitchie's shirt, already trying to pull it over her head, which she finally allowed him to do, though reluctant to break their kiss. As soon as the shirt was discarded, Mitchie slammed her lips back against Shane's, her hands wreaking havoc through his hair as she tugged and pulled to keep his face as close to hers as possible.

Of course, before it could get any farther, Shane's phone began ringing from inside the pocket of his jeans.

Mitchie groaned out loud and pulled her lips away from Shane's for a moment. "Don't answer it." Was all she told him before placing her lips back on his.

Shane did ignore it for the most part, but it wouldn't stop rining. So with an irritated huff, Shane pulled away from Mitchie and fished his phone out of his pocket, much to Mitchie's dismay.

"Hello?" Shane answered, irritated that he and Mitchie were interrupted. He frowned as he listened to what was being said. "Do I have to do it now? I wasn't planning on going anywhere today." He paused as he listened. "Fine, whatever. Just get Nate to do it. Jase and I will meet them later."

He shook his head and finally hung up.

"What was that about?" Mitchie asked, her hands still wrapped around Shane's neck, and her hands still running gently through his hair.

"The label found an opening act for the tour. Some girl band or something. Wants us or one of us to meet them. So I just told them that Nate would do it. Jason's with his family, so I know he wouldn't be able to. And I'm not ready to leave you quite yet."

Mitchie just smiled. "Well, good, because I'm not ready to leave you yet, either." And with that, she placed her lips back on his, picking up right where they left off before they were interrupted.

* * *

Unfortunately their day did have to come to an end, especially when Nate came home early after meeting with the band that would be going on tour with them. He said he had only met a couple of the members, as the others were busy doing something or another, but they were nice enough. Even though they were fairly new, everyone was kind of under the impression that they were pretty good, considering the label was usually pretty picky on who they sent on tour with Connect 3.

Mitchie was pretty excited to meet them, because it would be nice having some other girls on tour with them, instead of just having boys to hang around with. Even if most of her time would probably be spent with Shane anyways, but still, it would be a good opportunity to make new friends, which Mitchie was always willing to do.

So that next day, all of Connect 3, and Mitchie of course, decided to go meet the entire band and get to know the people who would they be seeing plenty of while on tour.

They decided to meet up at the labels main office in downtown Los Angeles. Where, naturally, paparazzi were following them, especially eager to get pictures of Shane and Mitchie, who didn't bother trying to hide the fact that they were holding hands and standing close to each other. It wasn't just an assignment to get the paparazzi to see them be close with one another, now it was just sort of natural.

Though they were relieved to get away from the cameras as soon as they stepped into the office building. They were immediately taken up to their managers office, where the other band was already waiting anxiously.

Mitchie immediately noticed that there were four of them, all dressed casually, but all of them very pretty and fairly young. They also looked nervous, probably because they were about to meet _the_ Connect 3. Mitchie only knew because she had felt the exact same way when she had met Connect 3 for the first time.

Their heads all snapped up when Mitchie and the boys entered the room, and they seemed to grow even more nervous.

"Good, you're all here." Nigel, Connect 3's manager, beamed as soon as he saw them come into the room. "Girls, obviously you know Connect 3, and of course Mitchie Torres."

Mitchie and the boys all greeted the nervous girls with polite smiles.

"And these girls will be your opening act this summer. Amy's the drummer, Brooke plays the bass, Shelby plays the guitar, and Savannah is the lead vocalist." Nigel introduced.

"Think I met Amy and Brooke yesterday." Nate spoke up, stepping forward to shake hands with the other girls that he had yet to meet.

Mitchie, Shane, and Jason all greeted them as well, and eventually the girls became comfortable after seeing how nice and welcoming Mitchie and Connect 3 were, and they easily dove into conversation, most of it being how excited and nervous they were to tour. They hadn't done much except play small clubs and venues, so this would be a whole new experience for them.

The entire time though, Mitchie couldn't help but notice how Savannah kept smiling and staring at Nate, and often times Nate would catch himself staring back. Mitchie couldn't quite place what was happening between them, but obviously there was something. Though she would love for Nate to find a girlfriend, she wasn't going to get her hopes up. But it would most definitely be something that she would keep her eye on. Because she wanted Nate to be just as happy as she was. He definitely deserved it.

Though it must have been hard to find someone as happy as Mitchie was. Glancing over at Shane, she caught his gaze while he was talking to Shelby, and she smiled at him, and he smiled widely back, making Mitchie's heart flutter.

Yeah, it had to be impossible for anyone to be as happy as she was.

* * *

**Okay, yay. Hope you appreciated the fairly decent update time. Not sure when I'll be able to next, my 17th birthday is at the end of the month, and I'm going to a Dallas Stars game, (My first hockey game ever. Woot.) And of course Thanksgiving is this month too, so I'll be pretty busy, but I'll try and find time to write and update, just cuz I love you guys.**

**Oh, and don't forget to check out my new Smitchie oneshot! It's fluff, and jealous Shane, so that's always fun. I'd appreciate if you went and reviewed it. I'd also appreciate if you reviewed this too, just saying lol.  
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	18. Chapter 16

**Ooooh another quick chapter. I don't know what's gotten into me. lol Enjoy it. This has a little bit of just about everyone in it, except Jason, cue sad face. I'll have him in it more soon, I promise, I've just gotta work through Nate's storyline before I can add in some Jason. I have a storyline for him too, it just won't come till later. And naturally, Smitchie has the main storyline, but expect plenty of stuff for the other characters.

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"So, they were nice." Mitchie commented after she and the boys all piled into the car after meeting the band they would be touring with during the summer. They had been incredibly nice though. You could tell that they were genuinely sweet and friendly girls, and that they were just anxious to be going on tour with two of the biggest acts in the world. Mitchie knew they would have great time on tour together, and Mitchie was now looking forward to this summer now more than ever, because she'd obviously be spending it with a bunch of great people.

She also couldn't have helped but to notice how Nate kept glancing towards Savannah, the bands lead singer. She also didn't miss the shy smiles that Savannah was sending Nate the entire time. But Mitchie wasn't going to get her hopes up on that actually being what she thought it was. She couldn't be sure that Nate was completely over her yet. Though she definitely hoped that Nate would be able to find somebody so that everyone could finally be happy, something that was long overdue.

But even in the car, on the way back to the boys house, Shane wrapped his arm around Mitchie and instantly got as close to her as he possible could, Nate didn't cringe away like he usually did when he saw Shane and Mitchie being the least bit affectionate with each other. He was instead just staring off into space and deep in thought. That made Mitchie hope that maybe he really was starting to move on and finally be happy. She was so ready to stop feeling bad about being affectionate with Shane in front of him.

"Yeah, totally." Jason piped up. "And I heard a couple of their songs, and they're really good. This tour is going to be awesome." He was so excited he was practically bouncing in his chair.

Shane just rolled his eyes and pulled Mitchie closer to him, happy to be going home and maybe get a few hours alone with Mitchie. Of course he was always trying to find times when he could possibly be alone with Mitchie, and he would take what he could get.

When they got home, Nate didn't say a word, instead just sauntered off towards the direction of his bedroom, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he went. And Mitchie briefly wondered what he was doing, but didn't think too much into it. He was just being Nate. She didn't have too much time to think into it anyways before Shane was pulling Mitchie back into his bedroom.

"I'm so ready for this tour. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a tour before." He told her, closing the door behind them and Mitchie immediately sat down on Shane's bed.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this excited about anything before, Shane." She giggled as she watched him sit down next to her. He cupped her face and planted a sweet, but brief, kiss on her lips.

"So, did you see that way Nate was totally staring at that Savannah chick?"

Looks like Mitchie wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Yeah, I did. And she was totally staring back at him."

Shane was happy to hear this. He was so ready to finally be able to have Mitchie all to himself. And he would finally get that if Nate was dating someone else and not thinking about Mitchie all the time. He knew that Mitchie hated seeing Nate so upset all the time, so he hoped, for the sake of everyone's sanity, that something would happen between Nate and Savannah. Especially because she seemed really nice and sweet and totally Nate's type of girl, because Nate did deserve that much. Someone who could really care about him. Shane just wanted everything to go back to normal, except now things would be much better because Shane would have Mitchie, and Nate would be happy again. And Jason would still be Jason, which everyone would be fine with. Hell, maybe even he'd find somebody. Though finding somebody who could actually handle Jason could be considered a miracle in itself, but hey, stranger things have happened.

All Shane knew was that he was finally going to have Mitchie all to himself. No more worrying about Nate and his feelings for her. The dude could finally move on with his life.

"Maybe something will happen between them." Shane said hopefully, but Mitchie just shrugged and sighed.

"Maybe. But we shouldn't get our hopes up. I mean, these things don't happen overnight. There might be something there, but who knows how long it'll be before they act on it. Or even figure it out for themselves."

Shane frowned as he considered that. But still, he could hope. "I just want him to move on. I want you all to myself."

Mitchie smiled at him. "You have me all to yourself."

With that, she placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his lips down to hers so she could kiss him senseless.

But before it could get anywhere, like Shane wanted, Mitchie pulled back and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Shane whined.

Mitchie just smirked at him. "I have to go back to my apartment for awhile. I haven't been there in a couple days. Gotta check up on Caitlyn and all."

Shane frowned. "Can't you just call her? I want to be with you right now."

She rolled her eyes. "Shane, you'll have me for an entire summer tour. You'll live through a couple hours without me. I'll be back tonight, I promise."

Shane frowned, but reluctantly agreed, because she did have a point. "Fine." He pouted.

Mitchie smiled and leaned down to give him another quick kiss before leaving.

* * *

When Mitchie got back to her apartment, she immediately spotted Caitlyn lounging on their couch watching some reality show on tv.

"Hey." Mitchie greets as she sets her keys down on a nearby table so she can go an sit next to her best friend on the couch. She sometimes felt bad that she was spending so much time with Shane, and not nearly as much time with Caitlyn as she used to. But she was sure Caitlyn didn't mind too much, she was an independent person anyways, she didn't always need to have somebody with her. But still, it was good for Mitchie to check in every now and then anyways, just in case Caitlyn got a little _too_ wild for her own good.

" 'Sup. Where've you been?" But the smirk on Caitlyn's face tells Mitchie that she knows exactly what Mitchie has been up to.

"With Shane." She said simply.

"So I figured."

It was silent for a moment as Caitlyn continued watching her show and Mitchie just relaxed on the couch. But when there was a commercial, Caitlyn turned towards her and Mitchie could sense some hesitant, which was unusual when it came to Caitlyn. She was always so sure of everything.

"So, uh, you're still hanging out with Nate, right?"

Mitchie narrowed her eyes as soon as the question came out of Caitlyn's mouth. She wasn't expecting Caitlyn asking anything about Nate.

"...Yeah. Why?" She asked, suspicious.

"Well...I was kind of wondering if he was still single...?"

Mitchie just blinked. She wasn't sure if Caitlyn was being serious or not. Because what Mitchie was hearing, was that Caitlyn was suddenly interested in Nate after specifically telling Mitchie that Nate wasn't her type.

"A-Are you _serious_?" Mitchie demanded when she saw no hint of amusement on Caitlyn's face.

"Yeah...pretty much. So is he single or not?" She asked again.

Mitchie just stared at her for a moment, not believing that Caitlyn was really asking her that. "What about James?"

Caitlyn simply rolled her eyes at the mention of her on again, off again, boyfriend. "I am so done with him. He was just a jerk who wanted nothing more than sex. So I dropped him for good."

She always said that, but Mitchie put that to the back of her mind and got back to the situation with Nate and Caitlyn apparently rethinking her view on him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you telling me just a few days ago that Nate wasn't your type and that you wouldn't date a guy like him."

Caitlyn just shrugged. "A few days ago I was still caught up with James and didn't want to date another guy at all. I just want to try something new. Maybe date someone who's not a jerk like James was."

Mitchie just scoffed and shook her head.

"Come on, Mitch, can't you just tell me if he's single or not?" Caitlyn pleaded.

Mitchie had no idea if she should tell Caitlyn or not. She had already told herself that Caitlyn would not be a good match for Nate at all. They both had two completely different personalities and two completely different views on relationships.

But for reasons unknown to her, Mitchie nodded her head and let the truth slip out. "Yeah. He's single."

That was probably the worst possible thing for her to say, especially if there was something that could maybe go on between Nate and Savannah, and now Mitchie felt like she was just complicating things, but she couldn't exactly lie to her best friend, the person who knew her better than anyone and would be able to see through any lie Mitchie spouted off.

Caitlyn beamed. "Cool, so you think maybe you can help hook me and him up?"

Mitchie hesitated. "Cait, I don't know..."

"Come on, Mitch, help your best friend out. How about, like a double date with you and Shane or something? Something subtle. That's all I ask."

Yeah, because Nate would just _love_ to go on a double date with her and Shane. But that meant he would probably say no, which would let Mitchie off the hook.

"Fine." She agreed, very reluctantly at that, but Caitlyn still leaned over and hugged Mitchie.

Mitchie somehow knew she was going to regret this, she just knew it. But it couldn't hurt to see what could possible happen, right?

* * *

After Mitchie had left, Shane had found himself becoming incredibly bored without her. Everything he did recently seemed to have something to do with Mitchie, almost like his whole life was revolving around her all of a sudden. When he wasn't with her, he was always thinking about her and wishing he was with her. When he was with her, he wanted to be closer to her. He had never felt so strongly about anything before, even music. As that thought passed his mind, it gave him a shock.

His entire life, music had been the one thing he loved more than anything in the world. It had been his escape from everything. He had been listening to and playing music forever, it was the best thing that he had ever been blessed with. And now all of a sudden Mitchie had taken priority over that? How was that even possible?

It's not like he was in love with Mitchie or anything.

...?

Was he?

Being in love had never crossed his mind before. Ever. He never wanted to be one of those guys who settled down with one girl for the rest of his life. He had always been the kind of guy who would come and go as he pleased. He could have any girl he wanted he had always been one to take advantage of that. But then Mitchie came along and completely caught him off guard. She had made him feel things that he usually laughed at in those stupid cheesy, chick flicks.

But did that mean he was in love with her? He wasn't sure. Especially because it had only been a couple of monts since he even first met her. Could he fall in love with someone in just that short amount of time?

It didn't seem reasonable.

But every bit of his heart, and even a little bit of his mind were telling him otherwise.

He was actually falling in love with Mitchie Torres.

Holy shit.

* * *

Nate had met plenty of girls before. Probably more than he could ever add up. Thanks to countless signings and random meetings on the street. He had definitely met his share of girls.

But out of all those girls, only two have ever really made him feel something that was rarely felt. The palms sweating, jittery heart, butterflies in the stomach kinda thing.

Those girls were Mitchie Torres and Savannah Malone.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he met the band they would be touring with. It was different every time he met a new different act. Sometimes the bands were arrogant and thought they were too good to be touring with Connect 3. Others were pretty chill about the whole thing. And the last kind, like the girls he met today, were just new to the whole thing and considerably nervous about going on tour for the first time. Usually he liked to make those bands feel more comfortable by being his nicest, and trying to show them that he was just a normal person.

But that was hard to do when he felt like anything but himself when he first looked at Savannah. Anyone could look at her and say she was pretty, with her honey blond hair and bright green eyes. But the second those green eyes met his, his heart started beating faster and his stomach nearly erupted in anxious nerves.

He talked with her for a little while, but he found it incredibly difficult to say anything remotely intelligent to her, and he probably made himself look like an idiot in front of her. Like how he sometimes felt in front of Mitchie.

So before they left, he had quietly asked her for her number. She smiled shyly at him before taking his phone and typing in her number.

Nate hadn't been able to focus on anything else ever since.

During the ride back home, he had been thinking about when he would call her and what he would say to her when he did.

He hadn't even noticed when Shane and Mitchie began doing their couple thing. Usually whenever they did, his stomach would clench uncomfortable, but he would try to bear it because it would make Mitchie's life easier, and she wouldn't have to hurt because he was hurting.

It was nice to be able to be oblivious to it for once.

Even when they got back home, he didn't say anything, jut head towards his room where he would undoubtedly think about Savannah.

Which was where he was now. Staring at his cell phone, contemplating on whether or not he should call her or text her, or something. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to get his mind off her.

He sighed, frustrated with himself. He wasn't going to get anywhere just staring at his phone. He would just have to buckle down and do it.

But before he could, his phone went off in his hands, making him jump in surprise.

He saw that Mitchie had sent him a text asking him if he wanted to to go out to eat with her, Shane, and her friend Caitlyn who Nate distinctly remembered. Was this such a good idea though?

Going out with Shane and Mitchie and some girl he barely knew would make things kind of awkward and uncomfortable.

But as usual, it was impossible to say no to Mitchie, so he texted back that he would go, even if he had an off feeling about doing so.

That night, Mitchie and Caitlyn met up with the guys and together they went to a pretty low key restaurant, not wanting to deal with the paparazzi for once, even though Shane and Mitchie were encouraged to show a little PDA in front of the cameras. They wanted a night off from all the publicity.

Nate was quiet for most of the ride to the restaurant, but he was the only one. Mitchie and Caitlyn were giggling over things, and Shane was cracking lame jokes trying to make them laugh even more. Nate was pretty much the only one who felt things were a little awkward. But that was probably just him making things more awkward than they needed to be, and it was ruining his chance to have a good time and get to know a new person in Caitlyn, but he just couldn't shake off the awkwardness no matter how much he tried to talk himself out of it. Of course Mitchie, being Mitchie, spent a lot of time trying to include him, and trying to get him to talk to Caitlyn a little bit.

Caitlyn was nice and all, but she just wasn't Nate's type. She was kind of wild, fluent in sarcasm, and was very bold and not afraid to speak her mind no matter what was on it.

He couldn't deny that she was pretty and definitely attractive, but she just wasn't the right match for him.

It didn't get any better at the restaurant. It was starting to feel more and more like a double date or something. They sat at a booth, Shane and Mitchie on one side, leaving him with Caitlyn on the other. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of him being forced on a double date with someone he didn't exactly like in that sense, so he tried not to think of it like that. At least Shane and Mitchie were keeping their hands to themselves. That made it somewhat easier for Nate. But that wasn't saying much.

It wasn't bad though, it just wasn't Nate's ideal situation.

By the time they were done, Nate was definitely ready to get out of there.

Of course then Mitchie so helpfully suggested that they go back to the house for dessert. Everyone else agreed, so Nate couldn't say no.

When they got back to the house, Shane instantly dug out the mint chocolate chip ice cream that Jason always kept stocked because it was his favorite. They couldn't really keep much else, especially consider how often they were away from their joint house.

But after ice cream, things got interesting to say the least.

Shane and Mitchie were back to being the couple that couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other, and Nate was left trying to block it out. Finally it got to where Shane just dragged Mitchie back to his bedroom, leaving Nate with Caitlyn, who had made herself comfortable on their couch.

There wasn't much else he could do, so he just tried to be friendly and sat down next to her, not sure what to say to break the ice, but she beat him to it.

"So, do you not like me or something?" Were the first words out of her mouth, stunning Nate into shock for a moment.

"Huh?" Was all he could get out, and he suddenly felt stupid and embarrassed.

"You were like totally quiet all night, and you barely tried to talk to me. Do you not like me?"

It took a moment for him to get his thoughts and words in order. "No...it's not that...I just...um," He fumbled for the right words. "...don't think you're...my, uh...type?"

He knew he sounded like an idiot, but what else was he supposed to say? Just straight up tell her that he didn't like her that way? That would be too mean, and he just wasn't the kind of person to kick someone to the curb.

"Really?" She asked him, and a tone that implied she didn't believe him.

Nate narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes, really. You're nice, and pretty and all, but I just don't think you're my type." He tried to tell her again, not understanding why she didn't seem to believe that.

"I don't believe you." She said confidently making Nate raise his eyebrows.

"What's not to believe, I mean-"

But he was abruptly cut of when he felt Caitlyn's hands on the back of his neck and forcefully pull his head towards hers where there lips met in a hard kiss.

Nate was shocked, to say the least, but for reasons that he had no idea of, he kissed her back in a hard, almost needy kiss. It wasn't the typical kiss Nate enjoyed, there was no emotion behind it except one; Lust, something that Nate wasn't completely familiar with, and it was having a strong effect on his hormones at the moment as he felt Caitlyn's tongue connect with his.

Her arms had moved to wrap completely around his neck so she could press herself up against him, to where she was practically sitting in his lap. He had put his hands on her hips, but they were moving greedily over and part of her body he could. Before long, Nate was dragging Caitlyn down the hallway towards his room, with some difficulty because their lips refused to part, even for air. And before he could stop himself, he was pulling her into his room and slamming the door behind him.

* * *

**Bet you didn't exact THAT. lol You couldn't have, because even I didn't expect it. I love it when my brain comes up with something just as I'm writing. We'll see what happens from here, but for now, please review! I only got a few last time, and that made me sad, though at the time, the ones I got made me smile, so THANK YOU. It's hard for me to write if I'm not sure you guys are liking it or not, so please give me some feedback, I'd really appreciate it. **


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